The Impact of Complex Trauma on the Brain
Irene Sipan, MA; Oladipo Adedeji, MS, LCPC, NCC; Nicole Delano, BS & Isabella Grivois, MA | September 20 | 3:15-4:15 pm
Topic: Healthcare | Knowledge Level: Intermediate
Childhood stress dysregulates and disrupts neurobiological systems, which has a lasting impact throughout adulthood. Though the impact of a significant traumatic experience on the brain and body has been extensively researched, there is less known on the impact of multiple, prolonged traumatic experiences on the brain. This presentation summarizes the state of current findings that when compared to peers with no traumatic experiences, children exposed to complex trauma have structural changes in their brain. For example, with exposure to complex trauma, there is a decrease in white and gray matter in the prefrontal cortex (e.g., Hanson et al., 2012). This loss of gray matter may at least partially explain difficulties in executive functioning. Further, with exposure to complex trauma, there is an association between childhood stress and spatial working memory. Regardless of a diagnosis in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), children with exposure to complex trauma seem to have difficulty inhibiting competing, extraneous information in order to focus on a task at hand. There is also less activation in the middle frontal gyrus, which is involved in response inhibition, suggesting that these children’s brain activity is developmentally delayed (e.g., Bruce et al., 2013; Carrion et al., 2008). Importantly, however, there is compensation for decreased activity, such as in the anterior cingulate gyrus, with an increase in activation in the left inferior parietal lobule. This demonstration of brain plasticity serves as a reminder that even in the face of adverse conditions, there is a path towards healthy functioning. Attendees will learn to identify complex trauma symptoms through a neuropsychological lens and learn compensatory mechanisms specific to complex trauma.
Presentation Objectives:
· Present findings that early stress disrupts structural aspects of neurological processes
· Describe the functional ramifications of brain changes due to complex trauma (e.g., impairment of executive functioning)
· Discuss compensatory mechanisms