Neuroscience of triggers

So I am reading a very interesting book called Emotional Intelligence.  The author begins his discussion explaining where emotions began and why they are a part of our brains.

According to Evolutionary biologists, originally humans were much more emotional than rational.  This can be seen in the brain alone.   The most vital and necessary parts of the brain are in the brain stem; the ones that control the bodily functions of other organs such as the heart or breathing. This is most conducive to our overall survival. 

But in a world of different stimuli and dangers, the brain developed another layer of elements, the limbic system. Within the limbic system are three key parts: the thalamus, the hippocampus, and the amgydala.

Beyond the limbic system are the largest portion of the brain, the neocortex. The neocortex is what sets us apart from most other animals. Ours are well-developed. The neocortex involves all the different rational faculties that we possess, allowing us to cognitively process the information.  In the forehead, we have the prefrontal cortex.  The prefrontal cortex is the portion that can damper emotional or different situations.  It is the ‘off’ switch if you will.  The prefrontal cortex is where we make rational and ethical decisions. It is where we calm down. It is where we separate and make sense of our emotions. To contrast, a child who is screaming and being unreasonable is reacting according to the limbic system. I used to work with autistic children. One boy in particular would have ‘triggers’, such as not getting his way, and he would then scream and refuse anything for an hour straight. His mom described this as being in the limbic system. This is similar to the reactions of dogs. They are more wired to simply react and to respond. If a dog is eating and you reach to grab its food, it will become violent and attack, even though you are its kind master. We find that humans can be quite similar.

When we undergo traumatic or emotionally intense events, these ‘emotions’ are imprinted on both the hippocampus and also the amgydala.  The hippocampus records the ‘whats’; where we were, who was involved, what was said.  The amgydala records the ‘flavor’.  The emotions behind it, whether it be pain or pleasure.  For example, the hippocampus will record the name of our cousin and also allow us to recognize their face. The amgydala will record our overall disposition towards that person, which may be dislike.

When the retinas within the eye send signals to the brain, they first go to the thalamus. Its job is to simply record facts. It then routes the information to various parts of the brain such as the sensory circuits at the back of the head. However, there is a small link between the thalamus and the amgydala.  The message gets there first. The amgydala has the ability to send us into a reaction before the information is processed.

As an example, you walk into a room where your son cleverly placed a plastic snake.  When you were 5 you had a bad experience with a snake that bit you and caused you a great deal of discomfort. Somewhere in your amgydala this trauma was imprinted.  When your eyes see the snake the signal goes to the thalamus which records ‘snake’.  The initial signal is routed to the amgydala which sets the whole body in motion. Before you ‘realize’ what has happened, you have leaped through the window and are trying to hide behind a bush in your backyard.  So irrational!!!

These are the same mechanisms at play for those who have been affected by betrayal or intense emotions.

The down-side of the brain is that some of these reactions get ‘out dated.’  A lot of impressions on the amgydla were recorded when we were only children or mere infants. Some of these impressions may be based on very dated emotional reactions induced by our enviroments.  These can even occur in our adult lives.  Even after we have developed new responses to situations, the unconscious memory stores in the amgydala can still affect our reactions.  In the book the author gives an example (which is ironic) of a waitress dropping 2 large trays just at the sight of a woman with red, curly hair that resembled the woman her ex-husband left her for.  

The number and type of triggering impressions are endless.

This happens in everyone’s mind, addict or not.

Unfortunately, I haven’t read beyond this.  So in terms of what to do against triggers and how to help the brain heal from them…..i am still learning that!!

The brain is so fascinating to me!!

I'd like to do a post on the ‘neuroscience of addiction” as well.  Maybe next time.