Childhood Trauma, the Neurobiology of Adaptation, and Use-dependent Development of the Brain: How States become Traits.

David Baldwin's Trauma Information, Articles:
Perry, et al (1995)

Childhood Trauma, the Neurobiology of Adaptation, and Use-dependent Development of the Brain: How States become Traits.

Article published in Infant Mental Health Journal, 16(4), 271-291.

Bruce Perry and his colleagues argue that infants and young children may be more vulnerable to traumas than adults -- that they are not resilient, but malleable. They consider neurobiological consequences of repeated dissociative or hyperarousal responses on developing brain organization, and conclude that the more plastic developing brain may be more vulnerable to disruptions related to these responses. Evolutionary advantages of gender differences in responses to trauma (hyperarousal by males; dissociation in females) are considered briefly, and clinical implications are discussed. Includes about 70 references. "