Limbic imprint

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In psychology, limbic imprint refers to the process by which prenatal, perinatal and post-natal experiences imprint upon the limbic system, causing lifelong effects. [1] The term is used to explain how early care of a fetus and newborn is important to lifelong psychological development and has been used as an argument for alternative birthing methods, [2] and against circumcision. [1] Some also refer to the concept as the human emotional map, deep-seated beliefs, and values that are stored in the brain's limbic system. [3] When a fetus or newborn experiences trauma, the brain will register trauma as normal affecting the newborn into adulthood. [1] However, when a fetus or newborn does not experience trauma, the brain will develop healthy coping mechanisms that work effectively into adulthood.

Contents

This phenomenon, since experienced during prenatal, perinatal and postnatal stages, generally affects children. Different types of perinatal and childhood experiences shape the future experiences of adults. This means that if a child is born under traumatic circumstances, then as an adult trauma will register as normal in the brain. Trauma will become expected and because of this early imprinting, adults may be more susceptible to dangerous or abusive situations. This also depends on the circumstance in which they were born and can negatively impact the adult through their lifespan.

Prenatal psychologists have suggested that it is possible to “reverse” the effects of negative imprinting. To improve their future experiences, individuals that have been negatively impacted, need to recognize, accept, and change their perspectives on their past experiences. However, there are not currently any cures or much research done for correcting a negative imprint. There are such therapies as re-coding meditation, which seeks to reset the imprints that were made upon an individual during gestation and shortly after. Many of these therapies can be done individually or within a group setting. Some individuals experience lifelong prognoses such as lowered depressive symptoms or a happier psyche in general. More recently experimentation on psychedelic assisted therapy seems to offer a technique to address these issues.

Limbic system

Limbic imprint is a psychological concept associated with the limbic system. The limbic system includes the structures of the brain that control emotions, memories, and arousal. [4] Through the prefrontal cortex, the system plays a role in the expression of moods and emotional feelings. [5] The structures most involved with Limbic Imprint are known as the hippocampus and amygdala. The hippocampus is majorly associated with memory. [4] The process of imprinting emotional and physical experiences into the brain utilizes memory functions. While the emotional regulation and responses of these experiences are majorly associated with and controlled by the amygdala. The system's connections with the cerebral cortex allow an individual to experience negative or positive feeling through his perceptions and he remembers such event with accompanying feeling. [5]

It is said that male and female limbic systems are different. [6] The use of the limbic system also differs in the sense that women use its more recently evolved part while the more ancient part showed more activity in men. [7] These explain why women are more capable of remembering emotions and memories than men. [6] Women are also more likely influenced by emotional attachments in their decision making. [7]

Incidence

As opposed to other psychological concepts, the limbic imprint is not specific to or more common in one group of people but is applicable to everyone. All human beings are affected, in some way, by their experiences in utero, their experiences during birth, and their first experiences after birth.

Causes

Trauma is a form of damage to either the mind or body that results from a distressing event. Traumatic experiences can occur in utero, during birth, and/or after birth. Trauma experienced in utero includes maternal smoking, alcohol or drug use during pregnancy; exposure to toxins such as methylmercury; and even exposure to maternal psycho-social stress. [8] Trauma in utero increases the risk of neurodevelopmental delays and disorders causing a long-term effect on limbic imprinting such as difficulty regulating and processing emotions. [8] Trauma experienced during birth includes the use of interventions during labor such as obstetrical forceps or vacuum extraction, cesarean section, or exposure to medicines used to relieve maternal pain or induce labor. [9] These experiences can cause both physical and psychological harm to the baby that also affects the limbic imprinting process. Finally, trauma experienced after birth can include malnutrition; neglect, physical, emotional, or sexual abuse; and lack of a safe or healthy environment. Traumatic experiences after birth also have long-term effects on limbic imprinting.

Effects

Stress and trauma experienced as a baby in the womb will turn into a normal expectation when born. As Freud has identified, infant development is affected severely by negative limbic imprints on the brain because at this stage the "Ego" is vulnerable and susceptible adverse effects. [10] This is in part due to an infant's brain being in a state of rapid development. Other effects include difficulty maintaining interpersonal relationships, dealing with overstimulation, and emotional regulation. On the other hand, a baby that is nurtured in hormones like Oxytocin will develop well physically.

There are four stops in the trauma loop of the Limbic System in the brain that occurs when an individual is experiencing a negative imprint effect. The brain moves in the first stage called "Hyper alert to danger". This is when the individual is highly sensitive to the stimulus. The Limbic System then moves into the "Normal Cue or Danger Cue" comes in. This lets the individual know whether the situation is dangerous or if it is a safe condition. Thirdly, the brain experiences a "Fight or Flight Freeze" and the individual cannot process how to react to the situation or stimulus presenting itself. Lastly, the limbic system reaches a point where the brain cannot take in information to understand the cues that it is receiving. This cycle continues and can continually put an individual at an increased risk for traumatic experiences to reoccur. [11]

Treatment

There are therapists who recognize that body and emotions - facilitated by experiences - leave imprints in deep neuronal circuits of the limbic brain and use such position to devise psychological interventions such as the therapy within a group setting. [12] Some therapists suggest a course of "limbic repatterning" to consciously rewrite bad limbic imprints and thus improve the patient's overall psychological health. [13]

Another suggested therapy is called "Limbic System Therapy". In this therapy, the patients participate in physical experiences that contradict the limbic imprint. For example, an individual that has low self-esteem may be given an activity to deliberately make them feel good about themselves like positive affirmation exercises. The more the patient participates in this "re-wiring" the better they will feel about themselves and thus correcting a negative imprint. [14]

According to psychologists, there are many more ways to help with re-coding a negative imprint. These strategies include things such as journaling, talking and sharing feelings, and participating in body therapies like a body massage. Other strategies psychologists suggest are spending time with loved ones, positive thinking, breathing awareness, body awareness, relaxation, meditation, and/or prayer. Regular exercise and warm baths are also suggested by professionals.

Criticisms

The major problem with limbic imprint is that there is very little scientific research done specifically on the concept. There is plenty of research on trauma and how it affects people as they develop which is useful to explain limbic imprint. However, standing alone, limbic imprint is fairly new and more common in pop-culture psychology than in research/scientific psychology.

Related Research Articles

Causes of mental disorders etiology of psychopathology

A mental disorder is an impairment of the mind disrupting normal thinking, feeling, mood, behavior, or social interactions, and accompanied by significant distress or dysfunction. The causes of mental disorders are very complex and vary depending on the particular disorder and the individual. Although the causes of most mental disorders are not fully understood, researchers have identified a variety of biological, psychological, and environmental factors that can contribute to the development or progression of mental disorders. Most mental disorders result in a combination of several different factors rather than just a single factor.

Prenatal psychology can be seen as a part of developmental psychology, although historically it was developed in the heterogenous field of psychoanalysis. Its scope is the description and explanation of experience and behaviour of the individual before birth and postnatal consequences as well. In so far as the actual birth process is involved one can consider this perinatal psychology. Pre- and perinatal aspects are often discussed together.

Psychological trauma is damage to a person's mind as a result of one or more events that cause overwhelming amounts of stress that exceed the person's ability to cope or integrate the emotions involved, eventually leading to serious, long-term negative consequences. Trauma is not the same as mental distress or suffering, both of which are universal human experiences.

Environmental toxicants and fetal development is the impact of different toxic substances from the environment on the development of the fetus. This article deals with potential adverse effects of environmental toxicants on the prenatal development of both the embryo or fetus, as well as pregnancy complications. The human embryo or fetus is relatively susceptible to impact from adverse conditions within the mother's environment. Substandard fetal conditions often cause various degrees of developmental delays, both physical and mental, for the growing baby. Although some variables do occur as a result of genetic conditions pertaining to the father, a great many are directly brought about from environmental toxins that the mother is exposed to.

Prenatal development includes the development of the embryo and of the foetus during a viviparous animal's gestation. Prenatal development starts with fertilization, in the germinal stage of embryonic development, and continues in fetal development until birth.

Intrauterine hypoxia Medical condition

Intrauterine hypoxia occurs when the fetus is deprived of an adequate supply of oxygen. It may be due to a variety of reasons such as prolapse or occlusion of the umbilical cord, placental infarction, maternal diabetes and maternal smoking. Intrauterine growth restriction may cause or be the result of hypoxia. Intrauterine hypoxia can cause cellular damage that occurs within the central nervous system. This results in an increased mortality rate, including an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Oxygen deprivation in the fetus and neonate have been implicated as either a primary or as a contributing risk factor in numerous neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders such as epilepsy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, eating disorders and cerebral palsy.

Childhood trauma is often described as serious adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Children may go through a range of experiences that classify as psychological trauma, these might include neglect, abandonment, sexual abuse, and physical abuse, witnessing abuse of a sibling or parent, or having a mentally ill parent. These events have profound psychological, physiological, and sociological impacts and can have negative, lasting effects on health and well-being such as unsocial behaviors, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and sleep disturbances. Similarly, children with mothers who have experienced traumatic or stressful events during pregnancy can increase the child's risk of mental health disorders and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Kaiser Permanente and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 1998 study on adverse childhood experiences determined that traumatic experiences during childhood are a root cause of many social, emotional, and cognitive impairments that lead to increased risk of unhealthy self-destructive behaviors, risk of violence or re-victimization, chronic health conditions, low life potential and premature mortality. As the number of adverse experiences increases, the risk of problems from childhood through adulthood also rises. Nearly 30 years of study following the initial study has confirmed this. Many states, health providers, and other groups now routinely screen parents and children for ACEs.

Memory is described by psychology as the ability of an organism to store, retain, and subsequently retrieve information. When an individual experiences a traumatic event, whether physical or psychological, their memory can be affected in many ways. For example, trauma might affect their memory for that event, memory of previous or subsequent events, or thoughts in general. Additionally, It has been observed that memory records from traumatic events are more fragmented and disorganized than recall from non traumatic events. Comparison between narrative of events directly after a traumatic event versus after treatment indicate memories can be processed and organized and that this change is associated with decrease in anxiety related symptoms.

Prenatal stress is exposure of an expectant mother to psychosocial or physical stress, which can be caused by daily life events or by environmental hardships. Around 10-20% of women suffer from mental health concerns during the perinatal period due to their vulnerability and emotion.

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Daniel S. Schechter is an American psychiatrist known for his clinical work and research on intergenerational transmission or "communication" of violent trauma and related psychopathology involving parents and very young children. His published work in this area following the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York of September 11, 2001 led to a co-edited book entitled "September 11: Trauma and Human Bonds" (2003) and additional original articles with clinical psychologist Susan Coates that were translated into multiple languages and remain among the first accounts of 9/11 related loss and trauma described by mental health professionals who also experienced the attacks and their aftermath Schechter observed that separation anxiety among infants and young children who had either lost or feared loss of their caregivers triggered posttraumatic stress symptoms in the surviving caregivers. These observations validated his prior work on the adverse impact of family violence on the early parent-child relationship, formative social-emotional development and related attachment disturbances involving mutual dysregulation of emotion and arousal. This body of work on trauma and attachment has been cited by prominent authors in the attachment theory, psychological trauma, developmental psychobiology and neuroscience literatures

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Transgenerational trauma, or intergenerational trauma, is the psychological effects that the collective trauma experienced by a group of people has on subsequent generations in that group. Collective trauma is the effect of psychological trauma experienced by communities and identity groups and carried as part of the group's collective memory and shared sense of identity. For example, collective trauma was experienced by Jewish Holocaust survivors and other members of the Jewish community at the time, and by the First Peoples of Canada during the Canadian Indian residential school system. When this collective trauma affects subsequent generations, it is called transgenerational trauma. For example, if Jewish people experience extreme stress or practice survivalism out of fear of another Holocaust, despite being born after the end of the Holocaust, then they may be coping with transgenerational trauma.

Emotional abandonment is a subjective emotional state in which people feel undesired, left behind, insecure, or discarded. People experiencing emotional abandonment may feel at a loss. They may feel like they have been cut off from a crucial source of sustenance or feel withdrawn, either suddenly or through a process of erosion. Emotional abandonment can manifest through loss or separation from a loved one.

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Mental illness can be a consequence of miscarriage or early pregnancy loss. Even though women can develop long-term psychiatric symptoms after a miscarriage, acknowledging the potential of mental illness is not usually considered. A mental illness can develop in women who have experienced one or more miscarriages after the event or even years later. Some data suggest that men and women can be affected up to 15 years after the loss. Though recognized as a public health problem, studies investigating the mental health status of women following miscarriage are still lacking. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can develop in women who have experienced a miscarriage. Risks for developing PTSD after miscarriage include emotional pain, expressions of emotion, and low levels of social support. Even if relatively low levels of stress occur after the miscarriage, symptoms of PTSD including flashbacks, intrusive thoughts, dissociation and hyperarousal can later develop. Clinical depression also is associated with miscarriage. Past responses by clinicians have been to prescribe sedatives.

Rapid resolution therapy

This page is about rapid resolution therapy. For traditional form of therapy, see Cognitive behavioral therapy

References

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  2. ↑ Tonetti-Vladimirova E (November 2006). "The Limbic Imprint". Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  3. ↑ Desjardins L (2011). The Imprint Journey: A Path of Lasting Transformation Into Your Authentic Self. Ann Arbor, MI: Life Scripts Press. pp. xiii. ISBN   9781615990870.
  4. 1 2 Marieb EN (November 2011). Essentials of Human Anatomy and Physiology (Tenth international ed.). Pearson. ISBN   978-0-321-76513-0.
  5. 1 2 Riva, Daria; Njiokiktjien, Charles; Bulgheroni, Sara (2011). Brain Lesion Localization and Developmental Functions: Frontal Lobes, Limbic System, Visuocognitive System : Remembering Ans Hey. Montrouge, France: John Libbey Eurotext. p. 163. ISBN   9782742008254.
  6. 1 2 Larimore, Walt and Barb (2009-07-13). His Brain, Her Brain: How Divinely Designed Differences Can Strengthen Your Marriage. Zondervan. ISBN   9780310853343.
  7. 1 2 Pinker, Susan (2009-08-18). The Sexual Paradox: Men, Women and the Real Gender Gap . New York: Simon and Schuster. pp.  118. ISBN   9780743284707.
  8. 1 2 Kinsella MT, Monk C (September 2009). "Impact of maternal stress, depression and anxiety on fetal neurobehavioral development". Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology. 52 (3): 425–40. doi:10.1097/GRF.0b013e3181b52df1. PMC   3710585 . PMID   19661759.
  9. ↑ Jansen L, Gibson M, Bowles BC, Leach J (2013). "First do no harm: interventions during childbirth". The Journal of Perinatal Education. 22 (2): 83–92. doi:10.1891/1058-1243.22.2.83. PMC   3647734 . PMID   24421601.
  10. ↑ Schore AN (2001). "The effects of early relational trauma on right brain development, affect regulation, and infant mental health". Infant Mental Health Journal. 22 (1–2): 201–269. doi:10.1002/1097-0355(200101/04)22:1<201::aid-imhj8>3.0.co;2-9. ISSN   0163-9641.
  11. ↑ "#3 – Limbic Trauma Loops – A Deeper Understanding : The Neuro Light". theneurolight.com. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  12. ↑ Ginger S, Ginger A (2012). A Practical Guide for the Humanistic Psychotherapist. London: Karnac Books Ltd. p. 157. ISBN   9781780490472.
  13. ↑ Dayton T (August 2003). "The Neurobiology of Emotions: How Therapy Can Repattern Our Limbic System". Counselor, the Magazine for Addiction Professionals. 4 (4): 64–66. Archived from the original on 2013-09-20.
  14. ↑ "How Limbic System Therapy Can Help Resolve Trauma". NICABM. 2017-11-03. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
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