In the chapter The Ghost Soldier O’Brien writes about the theme of brotherhood and/or friendship. In the story O’Brien writes about how he was separated from his platoon after he was injured and then his platoon came to the base for a couple days and he was able to meet back up with them. Specifically O’Brien writes “I felt close to them, yes, but I also felt a new sense of separation”(O’Brien 184). In this example the character Tim O’Brien is experiencing a lack of brotherhood/friendship. He feels different and separated from his platoon because things are different where he’s at, he is different. For example Tim mentions that his clothes were clean and he smelled sterile apposed to the rest of his platoon who were beat up with scars and blisters and who had tans from being outside 24/7.
My research question is about PTSD and what parts of the brain are involved. PTSD can develop after traumatic event(s) or reoccurring abuse. Parts of the brain affected by PTSD are the hippocampus, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and the amygdala. The hippocampus is responsible for formation of new memories. The amygdala plays a role in fear, and excitement. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex regulates emotion responses formulated by the amygdala. Studies suggest that constant stress can shrink your hippocampus. Veterans can struggle with not completely remembering memories or only remembering a couple very vivid memories that are constantly present. The amygdala and the hippocampus work together to process emotional memory. In PTSD patients the amygdala is hyperactive, which causes anxiety, panic and lots of stress especially when shown images or hearing sounds associated with their traumatic experiences. The functionality of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex decreases which means emotional response can be delayed. The brain and PTSD are very complex but interesting.
http://brainblogger.com/2015/01/24/how-does-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-change-the-brain/
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I really like that you used science to explain PTSD. We all know what it physically does to someone, but we never really think about what goes on in the brain of someone suffering from it. Your research opened up my mind to a whole new side of PTSD that I didn't know about!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that friendship is a very powerful theme in this book. Like the friendship between Rat Kiley and Curt Lemon and how Rat was so distraught over that that he killed a baby buffalo just to realease his frustration. That really showed how close the unit was to each other and how just losing one person in that unit can really impact someone.
ReplyDeleteYes! There are so many examples of friendship through out the book
DeleteI've noticed that friendship had been a theme throughout the book constantly.
ReplyDeleteThat is really interesting! I've always wondered about what part of the brain was affected by PTSD. You went so in depth about this and I now have an understanding of PTSD and the brain.