Notes along the way

Amygdala: You don’t get too far in adoption training without reading about the amygdala. It is part of the Limbic System and is where the flight/flight/freeze response comes from. But the idea of reward within this system is also important and links into attachment. This idea of fear and reward comes out in The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog and describes the cycle of being in trouble, crying out / reacting, and then to receive the reward. This is a vital pathway for our brains to learn.

Triage System: The brain stem will only send a message up to management if there is a need. We want to get to the point where the brain is not alerted by every noise or change in the light or sudden movement etc because it has built up a store of information which allows it to filter it out as a non-threat.

Sarah Lloyd helpfully compared the Brain Stem and Limbic System to a train track. We start with the very basic track which is just a simple loop – the Amygdala. The train just goes round and round concentrating on pure survival. It doesn’t deviate or pause to take in any interesting scenery, or to stop at a station to let memories off so they can settle in and be drawn on later. But there is more to the Limbic System than the basic loop – good enough parenting – or if the train is stuck – well directed therapy – works to flip the switch in the Limbic System to release the train from its simple loop to start experiencing more of what is going on – taking in the scenery, being in the moment, and being able to lay down memories (the job of the Hippocampus which appears as the station in this analogy) to build up the store of information to relieve fear, to recognise the absence of threat in future situations.

Neural pathways need to be trodden again and again – repetition – use it or lose it.

N.B. I would recommend Googling the 3d brain – it is a great resource that Sarah Lloyd mentioned in her training.