I'd like to share from what I learned at Building Bridges May 31, 2007 and chats there and afterwards... (this is pretty rough and may even be wrong in spots)

Survival functions, in the presence of conflict:
+ Fight (move into conflict)
0 Freeze (maintain status quo)
- Flee (move from conflict)

Fundamental emotions in the presence of conflict:
+ Anger (impulse to move into conflict/hot/"That/those bastard(s)!")
0 Sadness? (impulse to maintain status quo/neither/"?"
- Fear (impulse to move from conflict/cold/"Save myself!")

Brain structures:
Sensory thalamus (hypothalamus?): Traffic director
Amygdala: Center of emotion and survival function
Hippocampus: Context of sensory input (meta sensation)
Cortex: Memory (and cognition but re trauma it's memory)

Stimulus: Presenter at our conference said "Boo!" (signals to amygdala)
1) Sensory thalamus says "Surprise!"
2) Hippocampus says "At a conference."
3) Cortex says "This guy never hurt me"
Response: Amygdala says "Startle! Oh... Never mind."
In traumatized brain cortex will shrink, sinuses will open (will hippocampus shrink?)

Stimulus: As we are in tall building, somone slams a door
1) Sensory thalamus says "Surprise!"
2) Hippocampus says "At the top of tall building!"
3) Cortex says "Shit! It's 9-11 all over again!"
Response: Amgdala says "Startle! Look around! Run!" and somebody runs

The point is that in the traumatized brain, adaptation to conflict reduces contex and memory which thereby disinhibits Fight/Freeze/Flight in amygdala and keeping survivor in "limbic mode". This can be continuous and self-reinforcing. Mindfulness shows survivors where focus is at any moment and education and therapy show context and memory functions. Medication damps signals to amygdala and can (Aricept, etc.) modulate other functions.

Doug Goncz
Replikon Research
Seven Corners, VA 22044-0394
Student Member AASECT (NVCC, Math)
"Sexual Combinatorics and Statistics"