Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 322 STRESS IMPAIRS THE BRAIN, NEGATIVELY IMPACTS BEHAVIOR Brain functioning and overall brain development are a function of age, education, genetics, and environmental factors, such as stress. Stress shuts down the prefrontal cortex, shunting blood flow away from the higher brain to the primitive, or reactive, brain—a historic defense mechanism known as the“fight-or- flight response.”Unfortunately, under chronic stress, which is increasingly endemic in the world today, the prefrontal cortex shuts down chronically and fails to develop properly. The underdevelopment and/or underutilization of the prefrontal cortex is a fundamental cause of the pervasive violence in society today. Traumatic stress also leads to hyperstimulation of the amygdala, a condition seen in millions of military combatants and an increasing number of civilians suffering from PTSd. Such stressed individuals experience chronic fear, perceive threats where none exist, and tend to respond accordingly. AdVANCEd BRAIN IMAGING TECHNOLOGY (SPECT) SHOWS THE IMPACT OF TRAUMATIC ANd ACUTE STRESS ON THE BRAIN. THE“FUNCTIONAL HOLES”SEEN IN THE PREFRONTAL CORTEX (RIGHT) REPRESENT AREAS OF SEVERE BRAIN dYSFUNCTION. PREFRONTAL CORTEX OPTIMAL STRESSEd A B R A I N - B A S E d A P P R O A C H T O P E A C E 7