{"id":5980,"date":"2015-12-10T08:41:59","date_gmt":"2015-12-10T16:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.elizabethbader.com\/elizabethbadersblog\/?p=5980"},"modified":"2023-01-05T04:56:29","modified_gmt":"2023-01-05T12:56:29","slug":"neurobiology-mediation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.elizabethbader.com\/elizabethbadersblog\/neurobiology-mediation\/","title":{"rendered":"A Basic Neurobiology of Mediation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"313189_108436902596596_1707583335_n\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Basic elements of neurobiology are discussed in the following excerpt from Elizabeth’s new article, The Psychology and Neurobiology of Mediation<\/a>, published in\u00a0the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lessons from the Material<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Elizabeth considers readers should draw the following lessons from the material:<\/p>\n

1) While people sometimes speak generally about the fight-or-flight response in mediation, the reality is our responses to conflict are more nuanced.<\/p>\n

2) \u00a0In particular, nervous system responses do not have to rise to the level of fight-or-flight to contain elements of highly charged sympathetic arousal. \u00a0Sympathetic arousal can make decisionmaking and prosocial behavior more difficult or painful.<\/p>\n

(3) \u00a0As Stephen Porges has explained, these responses are triggered outside of our awareness by the autonomic nervous system — way before the rational faculty knows what is happening.<\/p>\n

(4) \u00a0At least with some people, it may be counterproductive to rely on their purely rational capacities. The autonomic nervous system needs to be understood and respected.<\/p>\n

To see other excerpts, please press here.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

III. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Elements of Neurobiology Relevant to Conflict and Conflict Resolution<\/strong><\/h4>\n

. . .<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a>A. \u00a0 \u00a0 The Autonomic Nervous System<\/strong><\/h4>\n

To begin with basics, the autonomic nervous system[1]<\/a> \u00a0(\u201cANS\u201d) \u00a0controls the fight-or-flight response and is deeply implicated in the way we respond to trauma. Often a first responder in cases of threat or challenge, it also controls the viscera, internal organs such as the gut and heart.[2]<\/a> By necessity, then, it operates largely outside our cognitive control. We don\u2019t need to tell our heart to beat faster when a car is approaching in our lane.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a>B. \u00a0 Neuroception: Scanning the Environment for Threat<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Stephen Porges has coined the term \u201cneuroception\u201d to describe the way in which the autonomic nervous system continually monitors the environment to distinguish whether situations or people are safe, dangerous, or life threatening.[3]<\/a>\u00a0 This process takes place rapidly, outside of awareness, in primitive parts of the brain.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

As a result, our bodies can respond very quickly to the environment.\u00a0 Through neuroception, we can also determine whether to communicate and act in a prosocial way within a social group.\u00a0 Thus, \u201cneuroception . . . connects the e<\/em>valuation of risk with social behavior.\u201d<\/em>[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a>C. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The Sympathetic Nervous System: Mobilization for Action<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The sympathetic nervous system (\u201cSNS\u201d), one of the two major branches of the ANS, mobilizes the body for action.[6]<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0When we are confronted with a potential or actual threat, it stimulates the heart to beat faster, the respiration rate to increase, and the neuroendocrine system to produce adrenaline[7]<\/a> and other stress hormones.[8]<\/a> \u00a0Blood pressure rises.\u00a0 Blood is shunted to the muscles of the arms and legs. Energy is conserved by shutting down areas such as the digestive system not needed during the emergency.[9]<\/a> This is the fight-or-flight response.<\/p>\n

Full throttle sympathetic activation such as the fight-or-flight response, is, of course, not necessary in many situations.\u00a0 <\/em>For example, even in high-conflict cases in mediation people generally do not come to blows or run out of the room.<\/p>\n

Give-and-take and prosocial behavior is possible precisely because we are capable of flexibly arousing and soothing defensive and self-protective responses without the necessity for full-on sympathetic activation.<\/em>[10]<\/a> This capacity developed through the course of evolution.[11]<\/a><\/p>\n

However, the sympathetic nervous system can still be aroused to a high degree.\u00a0 The extent of arousal will depend upon the situation but also on the particular individual\u2019s psychology and neurobiology.[12]<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Footnotes<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

Thanks again to the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution for allowing us to publish these excerpts.<\/p>\n

Please note that the text here contains italics not shown in the original article for emphasis. The footnote numbers also vary in the original article, which can be found here.<\/a><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> The peripheral nervous system connects the central nervous system to the body. The autonomic nervous system is a branch of the peripheral nervous system. David Shier, Jackie Butler and Ricki Lewis, Hole\u2019s Human Anatomy and Physiology 338 (10th<\/sup> ed. 2004).<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Shier et al., supra<\/em>, note 8, at 339.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Porges, supra<\/em> note 2, at 11 (\u201cI have coined the term neuroception<\/em> to describe how neural circuits distinguish whether situations or people are safe, dangerous or life threatening.\u201d)<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid.<\/em> (\u201cBecause of our heritage as a species, neuroception takes place in primitive parts of the brain, without our conscious awareness.\u201d)<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> William Singletary, MD, Models of ASD, A Remarkable Confluence, <\/em>152 in <\/em>Autism Spectrum Disorder, Perspectives from Psychoanalysis and Neuroscience (Susan P. Sherkow and Alexandra M. Harrison, with contributions by William M. Singletary, 2014).<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> The SNS works through two columns which run down vertically alongside the spinal cord, one on each side of the spinal cord. Each column includes a number of ganglia, groupings of nerve cells. Nerve fibers collect within the ganglia and then synapse with other neurons that extend to the viscera.\u00a0 This enables impulses to branch out into and down the body to innervate organs and limbs. Shier, supra <\/em>note 8, at 410. This facilitates rapid behaviors such as, for example, fight or flight, and quick movement of the limbs. Porges, supra<\/em> note 2, at 153.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> I use the term \u201cadrenaline\u201d here, but it is also called epinephrine.\u00a0 Elaine N. Marieb and Katja Hoehn, Human Anatomy & Physiology 533 (9th<\/sup> ed. 2013).<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Shier et al. supra<\/em> note 8, at 501.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Id. <\/em>at 500-501.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Porges, supra<\/em> note 2, at 266 (mammals have developed the capacity to \u201ccue\u201d others of safety and danger \u201cwhile promoting transitory mobilization and the expression of sympathetic tone without requiring [full] sympathetic or adrenal activation\u201c).<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> \u201cThe mammalian nervous system did not develop solely to survive in dangerous and life-threatening environments but also to promote social interactions and social bonds in safe environments.\u00a0 To accomplish this adaptive flexibility, a new neural strategy requiring safety emerged while the more primitive neural circuits to regulate defensive strategies were retained.\u201d Id.<\/em> at 121.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> On the relationship between an individual\u2019s neurobiology and their psychology, see generally,<\/em> Arlene Montgomery, Neurobiology Essentials for Clinicians, What Every Therapist Needs to Know (2013) (containing case studies and theoretical discussions).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An important excerpt from Elizabeth Bader’s new article, The Psychology and Neurobiology of Mediation, recently published by the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution. 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