Trauma & the Mind | How trauma imprints.
- Dena Bradford
- Feb 11
- 5 min read
Updated: Feb 19
As a 6th grader, I lived in rural Oklahoma, where my science teacher had only one arm.
Our teacher unexpectedly told us how he lost his arm one warm summer day during class. He was working alone with saw equipment at his job, and, somehow, the saw blade hit his arm and cut deeply. He was trapped, alone, and bleeding to death.
He had a choice; He could die or grab a pair of scissors that were nearby and cut his arm off.
This story of survival is about how he lost an arm, found a new profession, and became my 6th-grade science teacher.
I love to do DIY home projects but have always refused to use a saw, often stating that I am afraid I might cut my finger off, or something similar. I just connected my current-day hesitation to a story I was told in 6th grade while typing this article for you.
I haven't thought about this in probably forty years, but as I type, I remember that he was wearing a pale yellow short-sleeved shirt, it was a warm day, and the classroom windows were open.
I do not remember his name, but I remember his brown pants and brown glasses and that he lost his dominant arm and had to relearn to write with his remaining hand.
My story is an example of how a memory combines with a small amount of trauma and how, while the trauma did not happen to me, it has been lingering in my subconscious and keeping me far from the danger of a saw all these years.
A little "t" trauma. A trauma imprint.
Little traumas and big traumas are an emotional response when something overwhelming happens to an individual that is beyond the control of that individual and has a lasting negative impact. The lasting impact is due to a trauma imprint.
Brain Development
Let's do a High-Level Overview of Brain and Development
The brain develops in three major areas as it relates to this article:
1. The Hindbrain, or reptilian brain, is generally in the lower back of your skull. This
part of the brain functions automatically and maintains basic body functions like
breathing and heartbeat. It is fully developed in the second trimester of pregnancy.
2. The Midbrain, or limbic system, is instinctive and generally located in the middle of our skull. It also functions automatically and is responsible for fear and pleasure, emotions, and memory, among other things. This is fully developed in your mid-twenties.
3. Forebrain – last (neocortex) – is generally located at the top and the front of your skull and is the place for higher functioning. This is the only part of the brain under our conscious control. The forebrain is responsible for logic, reasoning, imagination, planning, and impulse control. This part of the brain communicates slower than the other two parts because they are about survival (reaction) and this part is about response.
The brain is also split into designed areas, almost like control centers, and each area is designed to communicate with other areas in the brain using connections or pathways.
Development relies on these patterns and pathways of communication to grow correctly along paths called networks. These networks can be simple or highly complex, with different areas of the brain having to work together quickly to focus. Some examples of brain networks are vision so we can see, sensation so we can feel, speech for language, attention for focus, and memories.
So, back to trauma and the brain and behavior. For this presentation, there are the three parts of the brain, structures in the brain, systems in the brain, and pathways that help to send signals from one area to another all still developing at the same time and in the same place in the brain.
That is a lot, right? I will jokingly tell you that it is a wonder the human
the brain works as it is; when we throw trauma in there – we open up an opportunity to get "jammed up."
How Trauma Imprints in the Brain & Body
Within the limbic system of the midbrain lies, a structure called the amygdala.
The function of the amygdala is to send a signal to other parts of the brain when there is danger. This is an extremely fast, unconscious action. The primitive parts of the brain take over, and then the body shifts into automatic reaction instead of measured response.
This automatically happens because our body is built to run from bears in the woods.
The survival brain takes over the rational brain.
The amygdala brain sends the body a signal, and blood flows into the muscles, including the heart. Then, all systems of the body that are not directly responsible for survival are essentially shut off.
These systems include a structure in the brain called the hippocampus, which
is usually responsible for memory storage and retrieval. The hippocampus stops its' primary task of memory-making in times of stress.
Instead, it begins releasing a stress hormone that stimulates the adrenal glands to release a cortisol steroid. When that quick shift happens, your body will automatically move into one of 3 states:
Fight – You fight the bear and later wonder how you got the strength to do it.
Flight – You run from the bear and are amazed at how fast you can run.
Freeze – You see the bear coming towards you, but you cannot move. You might play dead, and the bear gets bored and leaves you alone. You might feel weak because you did not fight or run.
The Amygdala and the Hippocampus help drive the body through stressful situations with the bear because the goal of the automatic nervous system is to stay alive.
The hippocampus then integrates the stressful situation into working memory, helping the body have a “head start” in reacting the next time you smell, hear, or see a bear.
You may not even have to sense the bear; the memory of the bear may replay on its own.
Remember that the threat of trauma can be just as impactful as direct or indirect trauma.
The same stress hormones, steroids, and processing issues happen in the body, no matter if the threat is due to a bear, a taxicab honking, or someone threatening abuse.
The stress hormone cortisol? In the moment, it is protective in acute stress situations because it can help pump blood and oxygen through your body to fight or run; it also lessens the feeling of pain.
This dulling of pain during traumatic events is how a science teacher can cut off his arm with a pair of scissors.
Your body does not recognize the difference between a bear and a taxicab honking.
Distinction is a higher-level brain function and the fight or flight function exists at the faster unconscious level of activity; the body treats either scenario the same.
Our bodies are biologically "wired" for both acute, one-time incidents and longer-term chronic stress.
Please explore Dena's related articles on trauma. Want to know more?
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