Post Traumatic Stress Affects The Brain Essay

The brain and body are more alike than people think. The brain sends signals to the body to do things. Stress is a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from very demanding circumstances. When the brain senses danger, right away, it sends nerve signals down to the spinal cord to the adrenal glands. This tells them to release the hormone called adrenaline. Once this adrenaline is released, it raises a person's blood pressure and increases your heart rate. The hypothalamus brings signals to the pituitary gland near the bottom of the brain. This tells the brain to release factors that have traveled through the bloodstream and stimulated the adrenal cortex to make a stress hormone called cortisol. Stress has many bad effects on the brain and its ability to control the body, including: damaging the brain, causing memory impairments, resulting in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and weakening the immune system.
Stress releases a hormone called cortisol. Stress damages the brain by the cortisol killing the cells. Cortisol destroys and harms cells in the hippocampus (responsible for memory) which causes premature brain aging. Too much cortisol in your brain is not good, but you need it live live. Post-traumatic stress disorder sets off changes in the brain structure. The “Neuroscientist at the University of …show more content…
Patients with PTSD are shown to have smaller hippocampal and anterior cingulate volumes, increased amygdala function, and decreased medial prefrontal cingulate function. “In addition, patients with PTSD show increased cortisol and norepinephrine responses to stress.” ( ) Sadly, this can be a lifelong problem for some people. “Throughout the brain several chemical and biological imbalances can present after trauma.” ( ) These imbalances include the overstimulated amygdala, underactive hippocampus, and ineffective