Classification of Allostatic Circuits
Laurel Mellin, PhD
Associate Clinical Professor of Family and Community Medicine, UCSF

State-specific Memory
Memories stored in dominant brain area.
1
2
3
4
5

State-specific Memory
Allostatic Circuits stored at Brain States 4 & 5
1
2
3
4
5

Brain Area Encoded?
•
All allostatic circuits are encoded at Brain State 4 or 5.
•
Identify by Brain State when circuit activated (Cycle
Tool).
• Activation of a 4 Circuit observed as Brain State 4 in
patient.
•
Activation of a 5 Circuit observed as Brain State 5 in
patient.

4 Circuit: “Stress Circuit”

5 Circuit: “Survival Circuit”

1 Circuit: “Resilience Circuit”

4 Circuit: “Stress Circuit”

5 Circuit: “Survival Circuit”

Generalization or Association?
•
False generalizations
Example: “I am bad.”
Expectations about self, others or life.
•
False associations
Example: “I get my safety from smoking.”
Expectations about corrective action to decrease
stress and increase reward.
•
Identify by activating circuit, and facilitating the
patient’s introspective awareness of the
expectation (Cycle Tool).

Chronology: Primary or Secondary?
•
The primary circuit was encoded prior to the
secondary circuit.
•
The primary circuit was encoded in more primitive
regions of the brain (higher stress arousal when
encoded).
•
The primary circuit is often a false generalization, the
original trauma or attachment disruption.
•
The secondary circuit is the false association, the
corrective response to decrease stress and increase
reward insufficiency caused by the primary circuit.