How Trauma Rewires Your Brain: The Role of Classical Conditioning in PTSD and Complex PTSD

Trauma alters brain circuits to strengthen conditioned fear. (đź“·:empowervmedia) C lassical conditioning is a type of learning where a neutral stimulus becomes linked to an important event. For example, imagine Pavlov ’s famous dogs: they learned to salivate (response) to a bell (neutral cue) because the bell was repeatedly paired with food . In similar fashion, our minds can learn fear. Classical conditioning means we automatically associate a neutral cue with something scary, so that the cue alone later sparks that same fear response . 'Pavlov's Dogs' ▶️3m02s In a trauma scenario, the traumatic event (like a car crash, assault, or explosion) acts as a powerful unconditioned stimulus that naturally provokes terror. Neutral details from that moment (a sound, an odour, a place) get stamped in as conditioned stimuli. Later, those once-ordinary cues can trigger panic or distress even when no danger is present. For instance, a war veteran might suddenly feel terror upon ...