There is the hindbrain or reptilian brain, which includes the brainstem and cerebellum. An Introduction to Trauma and the Brainįirst, a quick primer on the brain. Knowledge of the traumatized brain can drastically improve how we engage our young people in order to practice a trauma-informed approach. What’s often missing is a basic understanding of how trauma impacts the brain and how such function, in turn, affects behavior. We know our students and clients have varied experiences that have impacted their lives in many ways, which can manifest in our classrooms and therapy offices diversely. Most educators, therapists, and other youth workers know inherently that every young person doesn’t fit in a predefined diagnostic box. These are just a couple scenarios in which trauma can occur and fall outside the exact criteria of PTSD. For example, a young child who’s mother neglected him and in turn developed an insecure ambivalent attachment style may develop a worldview that’s very cold and harsh relationally a young woman living in a community plagued by violence and drugs, but who’s never been assaulted physically herself can still develop hyperarousal in response to constantly hearing gunshots. This definition however, can be limited and does not take into account the many nuances of subjective experience and behavioral expression.
#Picture of the brain manual
Trauma is traditionally popularized as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a severe adaptation to threat characterized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) as having re-experiencing symptoms (e.g., flashbacks, nightmares, daydreams of the traumatic event), avoidance symptoms (e.g., avoiding the physical place where the event occurred, avoiding/suppressing thoughts related to the event, etc.), and arousal symptoms (e.g., hyper or hypo-vigilance i.e., rapid increase/decrease of the individual’s physical “alarm” system such as heart rate and other autonomic nervous system functions). Trauma can result from events including, but not limited to, getting physically or sexually assaulted, sudden death of family members or close friends, being emotionally abused or neglected throughout one’s childhood, the result of a catastrophic environmental event like an earthquake or hurricane, and can even result from generations of oppression on a family or community. It is made up of layers of blood vessels that nourish the back of the eye.Trauma can be defined as a deeply distressing response to a real or perceived threat to one’s life. Other parts of the eye include the aqueous humour, a liquid which sits in a chamber behind the cornea, and the vitreous humour, the clear gel that fills the space between the lens and the retina. The sclera is the white part of the eye, forming an outer layer that protects everything inside, while the choroid is the layer of the eye that lies between the retina and the sclera. Nerve impulses can then carry information about that image to the brain through the optic nerve. Once the image is clearly focused on the sensitive part of the retina, energy in the light that makes up that image creates an electrical signal. The automatic focusing of the lens is a reflex response and is not controlled by the brain. It can do this because it is adjustable, and uses a muscle called the ciliary muscle to change shape and help us focus on objects at different distances. The lens is a clear disc-like structure that helps to focus light on the retina.
![picture of the brain picture of the brain](https://cdn1.byjus.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Human-Brain-1.png)
In darkness, the cones do not function at all. They are sensitive to light but not to colour.
![picture of the brain picture of the brain](https://d.newsweek.com/en/full/1228350/brain-stock.jpg)
The cones enable us to see images in colour and detail.
![picture of the brain picture of the brain](https://post.healthline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/nervous2-30.jpg)
There are three kinds, each responding to a different wavelength of light: red, green and blue. Only the very back of it is light sensitive: this part of the retina is roughly the area of a 10p coin, and is packed with photosensitive cells called rods and cones.Ĭones are the cells responsible for daylight vision. The retina is a complex part of the eye, and its job is to turn light into signals about images that the brain can understand. The brain eventually turns the image the right way up. The amount of light entering the eye is controlled by the pupil, which is surrounded by the iris – the coloured part of the eye.īecause the front part of the eye is curved, it bends the light, creating an upside down image on the retina. This light enters the eye through the cornea, which acts like a window at the front of the eye. The images we see are made up of light reflected from the objects we look at.