Aim To Get Better Understanding trauma #1: Understanding traumatic memory and why people get "triggered"

 UNDERSTANDING TRAUMATIC MEMORY AND WHY PEOPLE GET “TRIGGERED”

There are two bits of our brain that are responsible for memory.

 First, the hippocampus, which is in the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex is the most advanced part of our brain and the most recent to evolve. It is the thinking, logical bit, that enables us to calculate, problem solve, organise incoming information, process it and create new information and ideas from it. It is the part of our brain that enables us to function in complex social groups, by learning that, if I behave in one way, it will initiate one kind of response from another person (for example, if I smile at someone they are likely to smile back), but if I behave in a different way, I am likely to get a different response (for example, if I am aggressive towards someone, they may behave aggressively towards me, or retreat from me). It is where my “impulse control switch” stops me from behaving in ways that could have severe consequences for myself or others.

The part of our brain responsible for language is also in the cerebral cortex.

It is also the part of the brain that is able to understand time. Time does not actually exist, it is invented by humans to enable us to organise ourselves and our complex social activities.

 The hippocampus filters our experiences and files them away in a logical organised way. When an event comes into my consciousness, my hippocampus can immediately tell me if this experience is in the past (a memory), the present (something happening in the here and now) or in the future (me imagining a future event).

 The second part of the brain responsible for memory is the amygdala. This is situated deep in the primitive part of my brain, and is responsible for triggering the “fight, flight or fright” survival response. This is often referred to as my emotional memory.

In usual situations, the hippocampus and the amygdala work together. A particular situation will send messages to my amygdala and, based on my previous experiences, this will provoke an emotional response.

A place, a piece of music, a smell or a person could evoke strong emotions associated with a past experience. If that memory was pleasant, it will evoke calm, positive emotions. But if that memory was unpleasant, painful or threatening, I will experience negative emotions such as anxiety or anger and my fight, flight or fight response may be triggered.

However, when the same sensory messages reach the hippocampus, they are filtered in a much more logical way. The hippocampus will realise that I am experiencing a memory from the past, not an experience in the present, so I am not currently under threat. It will then send messages back to the amygdala to “stand down” from its fight, flight or fright response.

 When a situation or conversation evokes a memory, with all of its associated emotions in my amygdala, my hippocampus can quickly take control and tell me the context of that memory, who was there, where it occurred and whether it happened yesterday, a month ago or thirty years ago.

 But when a person has experienced a trauma, the hippocampus and amygdala do not work together in the same way. Recent neuroimaging has shown that when a person is re-experiencing a traumatic memory, the emotional brain “lights up” and goes into overdrive whilst the cognitive brain and hippocampus go into a state of almost complete inactivity, and the language centre switches off completely. There are many complex reasons for this. 

 Because the hippocampus goes into a state of inactivity, it is unable to tell us that the emotions we are feeling and the sensations in our body are from something that happened in the past. We therefore re-experience the incident as if it was happening in the here and now. This is what is often termed as a “flashback”.

Because the hippocampus is not able to send messages to the amygdala to “stand down”, we may stay in this state of high threat for a prolonged period of time. And because the language centre has shut down, it may be impossible for us to find the words to explain to someone else what is happening, so it may be almost as distressing for them as it is for us.

 There are two main ways to help resolve this situation.

 1)         We need to help the cognitive brain switch back on and regain control from the emotional brain.

2)        The “fight, flight or fright” response occurs when the sympathetic nervous system is activated due to a perceived threat. It is deactivated by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system into action. This will result in messages being sent to other parts of the brain and the body that the danger has gone, there is no longer a threat to survival, and it is safe to “stand down” and relax.

This is where being out in open spaces, calming music, having someone to reassure us and talk calmly to us, having pets to cuddle and sensory interventions (such as a hand, head or back massage) can help, but we will usually need to rely on others to instigate these things rather than being able to do so ourselves.

 

For more information on “How to Manage Traumatic Memories / Flashbacks” please refer to Aim To Get Better Blog #2.

  

Written by MJ Albutt 3^rd Dec 2024

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