This behavior usually stems from damage to certain parts of the brain. Learning about how emotion is affected by a California traumatic brain injury can make all the difference in helping with rehabilitation.
Our traumatic brain injury attorneys in California want to encourage readers to learn about the following structures of the brain and how they affect emotion:
Hypothalamus: Buried deep in the brain, this structure is responsible for many of the body's automatic responses, like heart rate and breathing. This is also the part of the brain that controls anger responses, like clenched fists, a flushed face, or non-verbal vocal responses.
Amygdala: Shaped like an almond, this structure is a mass of neurons located deep in the brain that is linked to the individual's experience of fear. This is the part of the brain that helps the individual learn awareness. For example, if something makes a person angry, then the body responds immediately, such as by making clenched fists. But it is only later that the individual learns the reason why he or she became angry.
Frontal Lobes: Located beneath the forehead, this part of the brain is responsible not only for a person's emotions, like sadness, happiness, and anger; but also for how a person reacts in social settings. This reaction (or lack of reaction) is referred to as inhibition. When the frontal lobe is damaged, a person might "act out" or behave inappropriately in social settings, which is often incorrectly blamed on the person instead of the brain injury.
One of the most important things that you can do for a loved one who sustains a brain injury is to be sympathetic of the resulting emotional changes that he or she may experience. If a certain event triggers an unusual response in the victim, whether in public or private, then encourage the individual to take a deep breath and focus on controlling his or her emotions. The more repetition, the more the brain will relearn how to act.
If you or a loved one suffers from emotional difficulties from a brain injury, then contact a California attorney who specializes in traumatic brain injury accidents. The attorneys at Steinberg will provide you with a free copy of their book, 7 BIGGEST Mistakes That Can Ruin Your California Injury Claim. Just call 800-989-6385 or click here.