A short introduction into how trauma makes Highly Sensitive People (HSP's) more aware of threat how this shapes personality

1. The brain and sensitivity

2. The emotional brain; insula and ACC
• the anterior insula, a region involved in coordinating responses to
emotional important matters and filtering sensory information
• heightened connectivity between the anterior insula and the visual and
auditory cortices may explain why bright lights and loud noises are
problematic for people whose brains have been sensitised by stress
Picture of the brain with insula and ACC shown (Kuljit’s slide)

3. Why is the insula important?
• shows connectivity with other regions of the brain
associated with emotion detection and interpretation,
such as the Mirror Neuron System
• Mirror neurons allow us to “feel” someone else’s
emotion
• Greater response to their close others’ emotional
states
• Explains why trauma can be sustained by observing
another's pain in certain people (vicarious trauma)
• inter-insula connectivity is something that predisposes
you to migraine and also to anxiety (esp. social anxiety)

4. Sensory sensitivity and the Highly
Sensitive Person (HSP)
• Sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) is one strategy that
evolved for promoting survival of the species
• SPS, found in roughly 20% of humans and over 100 other
species, is a trait associated with greater sensitivity and
responsiveness to the environment and to social stimuli. Will
always be in a minority as it would cease to yield special
payoffs if it were found in a majority
• Studies show people with high HSP (highly sensitive person)
scores associated with increased brain activation of cingulate
and premotor cortex involved in attention, awareness,
integration of sensory information, empathy and action
planning
• highly sensitive people (HSP’s) showed stronger activation of
the dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) leading to greater
conscientiousness and responsiveness to others’ moods
standard short-form Highly Sensitive Person [HSP] scale (See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4086365/pdf/brb30004-0580.pdf) by Elaine Aron et al.
See also her book. The Highly Sensitive Person.