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

by Bruce D. Perry

In a young child, the cortex is not yet fully developed; in children younger than three, the neural networks are not mature enough to create what’s called linear narrative memory (in other words, a who, what, when, and where memory). However, in lower areas of the brain, other neural networks are processing—and changing as a result of—our earliest experiences. Associations, or memories, are being created in these lower networks, and this has a huge impact on how trauma is stored in the brains of the very young. If a child experiences abuse, their brain may make an association between the features of the abuser or the circumstances of the abuse—hair color, tone of voice, the music playing in the background—and a sense of fear. The complex and confusing associations can influence behaviors for years; later in life, for example, being served in a restaurant by a brown-haired man who hovers over you while he takes your order may elicit a panic attack. But because there is no firmly embedded cognitive recollection—no linear narrative memory—the panic is often experienced and interpreted as random, independent of any previous experience.