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Clinical Implications of Neuroscience Research in PTSD
Author(s) -
VAN DER KOLK BESSEL A.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1196/annals.1364.022
Subject(s) - interoception , arousal , learned helplessness , psychology , feeling , neuroscience , affective neuroscience , sensory system , action (physics) , traumatic stress , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , cognition , clinical psychology , social psychology , physics , quantum mechanics , perception
The research showing how exposure to extreme stress affects brain function is making important contributions to understanding the nature of traumatic stress. This includes the notion that traumatized individuals are vulnerable to react to sensory information with subcortically initiated responses that are irrelevant, and often harmful, in the present. Reminders of traumatic experiences activate brain regions that support intense emotions, and decrease activation in the central nervous system (CNS) regions involved in ( a ) the integration of sensory input with motor output, ( b ) the modulation of physiological arousal, and ( c ) the capacity to communicate experience in words. Failures of attention and memory in posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) interfere with the capacity to engage in the present: traumatized individuals “lose their way in the world.” This article discusses the implications of this research by suggesting that effective treatment needs to involve ( a ) learning to tolerate feelings and sensations by increasing the capacity for interoception, ( b ) learning to modulate arousal, and ( c ) learning that after confrontation with physical helplessness it is essential to engage in taking effective action.