Recently speaking to a number of therapists in the southern part of Arizona Neural Fusion Review gathered together for training on the neurobiology of trauma, the question was asked why one needs to understand so much about the brain and it's functioning in order to be a more effective therapist. This question triggered a thought process around how to demonstrate the need, and help people in general know why attending to early home life is so exquisitely vital for positive change in the lives of individuals, families and communities. It is this early home life that influences the brain development and can actually alter the genetics adequately to impact health and emotional well-being throughout the life span.
There have been a number of recent studies that have discussed how early care-giving environments impact the developing brain, and that this impact can create permanent structural differences that perpetuate throughout the lifespan of an individual. In one such study it is suggested that variations in mother-offspring interactions lead to neurobiological adaptations that create individual differences in behavioral and endocrine system stress responses.
These physical adaptations alter and change the genetic expression of the brain tissues and neuropathways. These altered gene expressions turn on or turn off certain genetic possibilities that a person might innately possess at birth. Those areas most likely to be influenced by this rewiring appear to be the amygdala, hippocampus, and the hypothalamus which are crucially involved in emotional regulation, regulation of the stress responses and the ability to attach to others through effective and warm relationships. The emerging field of Epigenics would suggest that the interactions with the care-giving environment produce changes in both genetics and in brain neuropathways development.
If the environment is good enough then the adaptations have the tendency to move the child toward more optimal physical and psychological health, while those environments that are less optimal can generate changes in the genetics and brain neuropathways that lead to more physical and emotional challenges. A metaphor for this alteration might be a revving car motor, if the motor had the ability to adapt to survive. The engine being revved with little relief would soon become overheated and the lubricants would begin to break down.
There have been a number of recent studies that have discussed how early care-giving environments impact the developing brain, and that this impact can create permanent structural differences that perpetuate throughout the lifespan of an individual. In one such study it is suggested that variations in mother-offspring interactions lead to neurobiological adaptations that create individual differences in behavioral and endocrine system stress responses.
These physical adaptations alter and change the genetic expression of the brain tissues and neuropathways. These altered gene expressions turn on or turn off certain genetic possibilities that a person might innately possess at birth. Those areas most likely to be influenced by this rewiring appear to be the amygdala, hippocampus, and the hypothalamus which are crucially involved in emotional regulation, regulation of the stress responses and the ability to attach to others through effective and warm relationships. The emerging field of Epigenics would suggest that the interactions with the care-giving environment produce changes in both genetics and in brain neuropathways development.
If the environment is good enough then the adaptations have the tendency to move the child toward more optimal physical and psychological health, while those environments that are less optimal can generate changes in the genetics and brain neuropathways that lead to more physical and emotional challenges. A metaphor for this alteration might be a revving car motor, if the motor had the ability to adapt to survive. The engine being revved with little relief would soon become overheated and the lubricants would begin to break down.
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