CTC Neurobiology of Trauma & Brain Development Flashcards

Mirror neurons are relevant to childhood trauma recovery because they:

Answer: Support empathic attunement and co-regulation between child and caregiver

Mirror neurons underlie the capacity for empathy and emotional co-regulation, making attuned caregiver relationships neurologically healing for traumatized children.

Epigenetic changes associated with childhood trauma refer to:

Answer: Modifications in gene expression patterns without changing DNA sequence, potentially transmissible across generations

Trauma can cause epigenetic changes—such as DNA methylation—that alter gene expression and may be passed to subsequent generations without changing DNA itself.

In somatic approaches to childhood trauma, titration refers to:

Answer: Gradually introducing small amounts of traumatic material to prevent overwhelm

Titration involves carefully pacing exposure to traumatic sensations or memories in small increments to keep the child within their window of tolerance.

The hippocampus plays a critical role in trauma that CTC consultants should understand because:

Answer: It is responsible for consolidating explicit memories and is vulnerable to stress-induced volume reduction

Stress hormones can reduce hippocampal volume and impair explicit memory consolidation, explaining why traumatized children often cannot form coherent narratives of events.

A child who appears 'zoned out,' unresponsive, and emotionally flat after exposure to trauma is most likely exhibiting:

Answer: Hypoarousal and dorsal vagal dissociation

Emotional flatness and dissociation are hallmarks of hypoarousal driven by dorsal vagal shutdown, a protective immobilization response to overwhelming threat.

When working with traumatized children, the concept of 'bottom-up' processing in therapy means:

Answer: Beginning with somatic and sensory interventions before moving to cognitive processing

Bottom-up therapy addresses subcortical body-based trauma responses first, as cognitive talk therapy alone cannot access implicit sensory memory.