What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing

by Bruce D. Perry

STATE-DEPENDENT FUNCTIONING All functioning of the brain depends on the state we’re in. As we move from one internal state to another, there will be a shift in the parts of the brain that are in “control” (dominant); when you are calm, for example, you are able to use the “smartest” parts of your brain (the cortex) to reflect and create. When you feel threatened, those cortical systems become less dominant, and more reactive parts of your brain begin to take over. This continuum goes from calm to terror. State-dependent shifts result in corresponding changes in a host of brain-mediated functions, including problem-solving capacity, style of thinking (or cognition), and the sphere of concern. In general, the more threatened someone feels, the more control of functioning shifts from higher systems (cortex) to lower systems (diencephalon and brainstem). Fear shuts down many cortical systems. Adaptive behaviors seen during state-dependent shifts in functioning will differ depending upon which of the two major adaptive response patterns (Arousal and Dissociation) are dominant for any given individual during a stressful or traumatic event. Default Mode Network (DMN) is a term for a widely distributed network, mostly in the cortex, that is active when an individual is thinking about others, thinking about themselves, remembering the past, and planning for the future.