Also read | Neurosurgeon with 26 years of experience explains panic attacks are terrifying: ‘You literally feel you’re going to die’ It happens on an ordinary Tuesday. You are answering an email. A colleague writes back with a curt line. A partner forgets to buy milk. Most people register it, shrug, and move on. For some adults, the body responds as if a threat has entered the room.
⦿ The amygdala: this almond-shaped cluster flags threat. In children who grew up without steady nurturance, it becomes hyper-armed. In adulthood, that can look like a racing pulse during a minor disagreement or sudden panic in an objectively safe room. ⦿ The prefrontal cortex: this is the brain’s manager. It weighs options, inhibits impulses, and tells the amygdala to stand down. After early trauma, its connections to the amygdala are weaker, and its volume can be smaller. Under sustained stress, it struggles to make new neurons and can shrink. the body’s stress system is also being tuned While those circuits are being shaped. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, or HPA axis, governs the release of cortisol and other stress hormones. Two children can grow up in the same difficult home and take very different paths. One develops recurrent depression. The other seems resilient. Psychiatry has spent decades trying to explain the split. Dr Shah pointed to several biological variables that shape the response to early adversity: ⦿ Variations in genes that govern serotonin and other neurotransmitters can make some brains more stress-sensitive. ⦿ Severe early stress can switch genes on or off without changing DNA. The effect can be years of elevated stress hormones. ⦿ Toxic stress can shift immune signalling. Higher circulating inflammatory markers are linked to depression risk.
“The amygdala triggers an instant emotional and physiological response to stress even under non-threatening conditions,” Dr Shah said. “The prefrontal cortex’s ability to signal the amygdala to stop the stress response is diminished,” Dr Shah explained. ⦿ The hippocampus: this structure files memories and gives them context: then vs now, there vs here. “It results in structural atrophy of the hippocampus,” Dr Shah said, ‘which leads to difficulty differentiating current, safe situations from past traumatic memories’. “Being brought up in a dangerous or unpredictable environment results in the permanent activation of the brain’s stress process called the HPA axis,” Dr Shah shared, adding, “This ensures that the nervous system is continually kept in a physical state of fighting, fleeing, or freezing, even in adulthood.
