Your personal smoke detector
The region of the brain where we find the amygdala is one of the first parts of the brain that processes sensory input. The main purpose of the amygdala is to decide very rapidly whether a person, a context, a situation, or an event is dangerous in some way. The amygdala is always “on” and constantly receiving input from our senses. It even notices the behavior of the muscles in our neck as we turn our head to look around for safety or danger.
Everything the amygdala notices is seen through the lens of potential danger. You may recall we often refer to the amygdala as the “smoke detector". A well-used example of this might be when my cat walks into the room. The amygdala gets sensory input about the cat, either through what it sees or what it hears or even feels. The amygdala decides almost instantly whether it is something dangerous. In its own way it might ask is this a mountain lion. Is this a house cat? Is it a safe cat? Its main purpose is to decide whether something is a danger. Now when the amygdala, also known as the fear center, determines that something is dangerous it activates, just like a smoke detectors alarm.
The more serious the danger is perceived to be, the amygdala becomes increasingly active. Here's where things get bothersome. When the amygdala activates it starts to suppress the ability of the higher thinking areas of the brain that we need for rational thought and emotional regulation. It also activates what is known as the stress pathway by communicating with another part of the brain called the hypothalamus. When the stress pathway is activated, it initiates the body's stress response from the sympathetic nervous system, mobilizing bodily resources to help manage the danger primarily through the fight or flight response. (Big word alert: the stress pathway is also more properly known as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.)
When a person is contending with post traumatic symptoms the amygdala is very frequently hyperactivated. A primary goal of trauma treatment is to lower the activation for that region of the brain. When that can be achieved the stress response is reduced as well as response to trauma triggers and the arousal/reactivity symptoms of PTSD (hypervigilance and so forth).
Feel free to contact me at Total Life Counseling, www.tlcincva.com, for more information as well as strategies to more effectively manage your “smoke detector”.