Layers of the brain

While the brain is a complex organ, it can be broken down into three layers: survival brain, emotional brain, and learning brain.

Survival brain

This is the oldest part of the brain. It asks the question, “Am I safe?”

The survival layer is responsible for:

• Taking in information from your environment
• Coordinating reflexive, defensive behaviours during times of threat
• Activating your instincts to protect yourself when you don’t have time to think before acting

Emotional brain

This middle layer of the brain is your feeling centre. It can ask the question, “Am I fearful or sad?”

The emotional layer is responsible for:

• Emotional learning
• Storing memories
• Controlling the release of hormones

Because emotions and memories are connected in this way, your brain can be unintentionally trained to respond with big emotions to anything that triggers a particular memory. 

If you experienced overwhelming fear, sadness, or shame during a traumatic event, then you may be likelier to keep experiencing those emotions whenever you are reminded of that event, even well after it has passed.

Learning brain

The highest layer of the brain asks the question, “What can I learn from this?”

The learning brain is involved with:

• Cognition
• Problem solving
• Decision making
• Attention
• Learning new skills
• Adapting to your environment

Stress and trauma can keep you in your survival brain. Your body’s energy and attention are instinctually put on the defensive while you try to answer the question, “Am I safe?” 

This situation makes it difficult for incoming information to move up towards your learning brain. You might find yourself struggling with cognition and problem solving as you make decisions that guide your behaviours.

Stress can feel like a boulder that you are trying to drag out of a swamp. Its weight can cause you to slip backwards. 

The more stress you carry, the easier it is for you to stay in your survival brain. You can remain in a state of increased vigilance and threat detection — far away from the solid environment of your learning brain, where you can think, plan, and solve problems.

Stress and the learning brain

Stress, trauma, and PTSD can negatively impact four core areas of cognition within the learning brain.

Memory

• The ability to remember and use information for tasks such as calculation or reasoning
• Changes in memory are one of the most common symptoms of PTSD

Cognitive effects of stress	Impacts
Reliving traumatic events through intrusive memories or flashbacks	Some people who have experienced trauma describe intrusive memories as movies that play on repeat in the back of their minds.
Memory loss, gaps, or total amnesia	Forgetting the timeline of a traumatic event or entire portions of a traumatic memory.
Deficits in short-term memory	Forgetting the name of someone you just met or where you parked your car earlier.
Deficits in multitasking or being able to keep multiple thoughts in mind at once	Difficulty holding an address in mind while listening to directions to your destination.

Cognitive flexibility

• The ability to hold and switch between different tasks, concepts, or activities and their corresponding behaviours
• Trauma makes it difficult to access this function because your resources are consumed by your survival brain

Cognitive effects of stress	Impacts
Reduced ability to acquire and integrate new information at a fast pace	Difficulty understanding the gist of a five-minute phone conversation compared to having the same information in an email you can reread.
Reduced ability to solve problems creatively	Getting “stuck” when solutions are not clear-cut.
Challenged to quickly adjust responses to changing conditions	Feeling unable to carry on with your day if something unplanned comes up.
Increase in impulsive behaviours	Unintentionally expressing frustration when it may not be productive to your situation.

Concentration

• The ability to focus and maintain a single thought process while ignoring distractions
• People diagnosed with PTSD may struggle to sustain their attention because they are hypervigilant and constantly scanning their surroundings for threats

Cognitive effects of stress	Impacts
Reduced ability to generate, direct, and maintain alertness so you can correctly process information	Difficulty focusing on or extracting important details from conversations with others.
Reduced ability to sustain your attention for prolonged periods of time	Difficulty focusing on reading an article or watching a TV show.
Increase in zoning out	Feeling withdrawn or daydreaming throughout the day, whether at work, home, or out with friends.
Increase in impulsive thinking	Making decisions quickly without thinking through potential outcomes or consequences.

Decision making

• The ability to consider multiple factors and use logic and reasoning when making decisions
• Good decision making requires several high-level processes (e.g., attention, memory, emotion regulation) that can be impacted by trauma

Cognitive effects of stress	Impacts
Distrusting your sense of right and wrong	Feeling conflicted by what you instinctively want to do versus what is expected of you.
Making decisions based on emotion rather than logic	Letting feelings of guilt result in avoiding making decisions altogether.
Difficulty recalling important information that could aid decision-making	Forgetting about somebody’s offer to help after starting a task on your own.
An inability to evaluate and incorporate all relevant information given a focus on threat detection or safety	Focusing mainly on negative details of a situation when deciding a course of action.

These cognitive changes can be incredibly taxing for those who have experienced trauma. However, it is important to remember that the brain is malleable. We can often recover from cognitive challenges.

Activities

Problem solving

When you have a complex problem, break it into the following chunks to make it more manageable:

• First, define the problem
• Second, define the goal or goals
• Third, brainstorm all possible solutions
• Finally, evaluate each solution and select the best one

S.T.O.P.

Practice the S.T.O.P. skill to connect with your learning brain:

• S — Stop: Notice when you’re acting from either your survival brain or emotional brain, not your learning brain.
• T — Take a step back: It can be hard to make a decision when you’re in the heat of a moment. Give yourself space to properly evaluate what is going on.
• O — Observe: Notice what’s going on both around and inside of you.
• P — Proceed thoughtfully: Ask yourself questions like, “What do I want from this situation?” or “What are my goals?” or “What choice might make this situation better or worse?” or “What action will allow for success?”

Writing prompts

Think of a challenging situation you recently experienced and describe it from the perspective of each of your brain’s three layers:

1. Survival brain
2. Emotional brain
3. Learning brain