Neurobiology and its Applications to Psychotherapy

Neuroscience, the polyvagal theory and applications to psychotherapy

Here Steven Porges explains the human biological responses to stress through an elaboration of the primitive emotional response rooted in the functions of the vagal nerve. The branches of the vagal nerve serve different evolutionary stress responses in mammals: the more primitive branch produces immobilization behaviors (e.g. freeze or feigning death), whereas the more evolved branch is linked to social engagement and self-soothing behaviors. These functions follow a hierarchical structure, where the most primitive systems are activated only when the more evolved structures fail to deal with threat. In this presentation, Dr Porges considers how we can learn to manage affective disorders and over-activation of evolutionary stress responses by engaging higher functions.