The reduced size of the corpus cullosum in abused children may lead to exclusively extreme perceptions of people
The process in which The brains of abused or neglected children show reductions of the size of several brain structures includes the corpus callosum. Not only have the corpus callosums of trauma survivors been shown to be smaller, but there is evidence of a disruption of functioning there as well. The result can be a “split” in the processing of emotion: the two brain hemispheres may not work in tandem, particularly when the individual is under stress. One characteristic of borderline personality disorder, a condition with which substance abusers are very commonly diagnosed, is a kind of flip-flopping between idealization of another person and intense dislike, even hatred. There is no middle ground, where both the positive and the negative qualities of the other are acknowledged and accepted.
It is possible that our “negative” views of a person are stored in one hemisphere and our “positive” responses in the other. The lack of integration between the two halves of the brain would mean that information from the two views, negative and positive, is not melded into one complete picture. As a result, in intimate relationships and in other areas of life, the afflicted individual fluctuates between idealized and degraded perceptions of himself, other people, and the world.22 This theory would explain a lot not only about drug-dependent persons but also about many behavioral addicts.
References
- Mate, Gabor. (2010). In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts Chapter 18. Trauma, Stress, and the Biology of Addiction (p. 248). Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books.
- Teicher, “Wounds That Time Won’t Heal.”
Metadata
Type:đź”´ Tags: Biology / Neuroscience / Developmental Neurology Status:â›…