Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome

• Due to extremely traumatic events, such as near death experiences, bloodshed, child abuse etc.
• This causes PTSD – that changes the brain’s structure and alters the brain’s functionality.

• This is a painful and frightening experience for people who suffer from this disorder, as they have flashbacks, and memories of the events that happened.
• These people are always on edge and hide away in their protective shells, and try to avoid people, objects and situations that may remind them of their traumatic experiences.
• Studies have shown that a brain of PTSD patients have a structural and functional difference to a healthy normal individual.
• The amygdala, hippocampus and ventromedial prefrontal cortex of the brain play a role in the symptoms of PTSD patients.
• These areas in the brain control the stress responses in people, But in people who suffer from PTSD continue to respond to stress differently than those who have not suffered from a traumatic experience.

• This is the part of the brain that trauma has the most impact on.
• There is a big difference in size of the hippocampus in PTSD patients.
• This is the part of the brain responsible for memory functions, and helps to retrieve and record new memories made.
• It also distinguishes between present and past memories.
• In PTSD patients this is the other way around, their neural mechanisms trigger extreme stress responses when confronted with situations that resemble their bad experiences. 

• Lasting changes in this area of the brain is caused by extreme emotional trauma
• This are of the brain is responsible for regulating emotional responses that get triggered by the amygdala in the brain.
• This is the region that regulates negative emotions such as fear.
• This is the reason why PTSD patients, tend to have fear, anxiety, and extreme stress responses when faced with past experiences that caused them trauma.

• When a trauma is experienced by someone the activity is increased in this area of the brain.
• The amygdala helps us process emotions and also linked to our fear responses.
• PTSD patients show fear, panic, and extreme stress when they are presented with similar experiences as their own.
• This is the reason for the hypoactive hippocampus and the volume reduction in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex stop working in a normal way, which then gets the amygdala into a frenzy.
• It has been recognised that the brain changes in PTSD patients increase the risk of developing mood disorders and other psychotic disorders.
• In order to treat people with PTSD, the chemical changes in the brain have to be understood, in order for the proper treatment methods to be advised, for them to live a full life with their true potential.

This disorder is fully reversible, as the brain can be rewired. By using drugs and doing behaviour therapy it has been noted that the volume of the hippocampus increases in patients with PTSD. It is amazing to know that the brain can regenerate itself.

• By using a FDA approved device that monitors brain waves, it can assist doctors in diagnosing addictions in children and adults.
• This is a non-invasive brain mapping test that takes 15-20 min, which uses sensors on the scalp of the person to monitor their brainwaves. Addiction patients have clogging and fogginess in their front lob.
• After a practitioner takes a detailed MAP of the patient. They will perform a set of tasks such as playing Pac Man with the brain.

• Your brain is central to everything; from how easily you remember to how fast you complete tasks and how easily you solve problems. Studies show that the gains you make from Brain Training are applicable to an almost endless variety of mental activities, from what you think, to what you do.
• From the speed of your brain, memory, flexibility, attention, and problem solving, Brain Trainer ensures that its protocols provide the maximum benefit for your long term cognitive health.