The Body Keeps The Score Flashcards

Brain Disease Model

• Healing parallels destruction; both capacities exist within us.
• Language empowers transformation for ourselves and others.
• Individuals can regulate their physiological responses.
• Social conditions can be modified to enhance feelings of safety.

Amygdala Function

• Crucial for warning against potential dangers.
• Activates the body's stress response system.
• Prepares for fight-or-flight situations.
• Releases stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.

Right Brain Characteristics

• Functions on an intuitive and emotional level.

Left Brain Characteristics

• Operates through rational and logical processes.
• Focuses on facts, statistics, and language skills.

Trauma Impact on Brain

• Trauma patients experience deactivation of the left side of the brain.

Top Down Regulation

• Enhances the ability to monitor and interpret bodily sensations.

Bottom Up Regulation

• Involves recalibrating the autonomic nervous system.

Depersonalization

• Involves feelings of disconnection from oneself.
• Illustrated through examples like Ute's brain scan.
• Conventional talk therapy proves ineffective for sufferers.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

• Involves repeated exposure to signals that trigger memories of past trauma.

Paradoxical Inhibition

• Weak stimuli can lead to unexpected, extreme reactions (e.g., soft noise triggering panic).

Heart Rate Variability (HRV)

• Measures the flexibility and balance of autonomic functioning.

Neuroception

• Refers to the automatic evaluation of danger and safety in one’s environment.

Levels of Safety

• Comprises three tiers: social engagement, fight-or-flight, and freeze/collapse.

Alexithymia

• Describes the inability to articulate or recognize emotions accurately.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)

• A projective psychological test utilizing cards to explore individuals' inner realities.
• Participants interpret ambiguous images, revealing personal narratives.

Dance of Attunement

• Initiates at subtle physical interaction levels.
• Brain promotes rhythmic movements that align with a caregiver’s, fostering stability in heart rate and breathing during synchronization.

Mirror Neurons

• Enable empathy by reflecting the emotions of others.

Consequences of Lack of Attunement in Children

• Children who miss attunement are prone to suppress feedback from their bodies.

Strange Situation Experiment

• Evaluates infant behavior in response to temporary separation from the mother.

Attachment Styles

• Avoidant Attachment: Characterized by a child not crying while remaining in a constant hyper-arousal state.
• Anxious/Ambivalent Attachment: Demonstrated through excessive crying and screaming to gain attention.

Dissociation

• An early learned response that contributes to feelings of being lost, overwhelmed, abandoned, and disconnected from reality.

Conversion Reaction

• A psychological response wherein patients exhibit loss of function in certain body parts, reflecting inner conflicts.

Explore key concepts from 'The Body Keeps The Score' by Bessel van der Kolk with these flashcards. Dive into terminology like the Brain Disease Model and the functions of the amygdala regarding danger and stress response. Perfect for anyone studying trauma and mental health.