Pre-Frontal Cortex

Brain region responsible for complex human abilities such as reasoning, social behavior, and other executive functions including control of emotions and impulses through communication with the limbic system. Acute trauma, including actual or perceived threat, emotional or physiological overload, or triggered memories and conditioned reactions, activates the human survival response which disrupts or outright shuts down this brain region. Chronic exposure to trauma has been associated with structural changes to this brain region including reduced connectivity to the limbic system.