Podcast Summary: Trauma Rewired

Episode: "What is A Memory and How Does It Get Stored In The Body?"

Hosts: Jennifer Wallace & Elisabeth Kristof
Date: December 9, 2024

Overview

In this episode, Jennifer Wallace and Elisabeth Kristof explore the multidimensional nature of memory—how it's formed, how it's stored both in the brain and the body, and how trauma shapes those processes. Their discussion bridges neuroscience, somatics, and real-life implications, demystifying how trauma persists in the present through embodied memory and can even cross generations. Throughout, they emphasize healing via nervous system regulation, somatic awareness, and neuroplasticity.

Key Topics & Insights

1. The Role of Memory in Trauma & The Nervous System

• Complex Trauma and Presence:

  • Complex trauma is described as a series of events that disrupt present-moment integration, leading to reflexive "F responses" (fight, flight, freeze, fawn) when triggered.
  • Trauma "lives in the now" as a patterned reaction in the body and brain but is rooted in past experiences.
    (04:27) "Trauma's created by the past experiences and memories. And that shapes how our brain filters information, decides what is safe or unsafe..." – Elisabeth

• Memory as Prediction:

  • The brain is a "prediction machine," conditioned by past traumas to filter present information and anticipate threat.
  • This anticipation impacts present safety perception and engagement with the world.

2. Types of Memory: Explicit vs. Implicit & The “Neurotag” Concept

• Implicit vs. Explicit Memory:

  • Traumatic memories are often implicit—stored as sensations, emotions, or fragmented images rather than coherent stories.
  • Blocked explicit memory and intensified implicit processing are common after trauma.
  • Cortisol (the stress hormone) impairs factual memory consolidation but intensifies the emotional impact.
    (05:48) "Trauma can lead to blocked explicit processing and enhanced implicit processing... It activates...the amygdala leading to more adrenaline or cortisol..." – Elisabeth

• Neurotag:

  • Memories are neurotags—a "web" of physical, emotional, and cognitive components.
  • Recalling a memory reconstructs all components, making it feel immediate and real again.
    (07:56) "They are emotional, physical and cognitive... When we recall a neurotag or a memory, it activates the physical, emotional..." – Jennifer

3. Memory, Brain Structures, and Emotional State

• Hippocampus Dual Function:

  • The hippocampus has two regions:
    • Superior (front, near frontal lobe): Active during positive emotional states, involved in fact-based memory.
    • Inferior (back, near brainstem): More active during negative states or threat, encoding emotional memories.
  • The state of the nervous system when recalling a memory changes the experience of that memory.
    (10:13) "When we’re recalling negative experiences, the bottom portion...is more active." – Jennifer
    (12:03) "If your higher order thinking systems are online, you have better recollection of facts...But when we’re in a threat response...that’s more emotional memory." – Elisabeth

• Example:

  • After a holiday trigger, Elisabeth describes experiencing a somatic emotional flashback rather than cognitive recall, reinforcing how current state mediates memory retrieval.
    (12:03) "It was a feeling, it was an emotional flashback...that whole neurotag is activated and my brain’s lens of the world changes." – Elisabeth

4. The Body’s Role: Somatic Memory and Psychedelic Experience

• The Body Remembers:

  • Before memories are cognitively stored, they are encoded somatically—every experience is "recorded" by the nervous system.
  • Trusting non-visual, feeling-based memory is countercultural and challenging, especially for those dissociated from their bodies.
  • Jennifer highlights the lack of discussion around non-visual, somatic psychedelic experiences and the importance of preparing the nervous system for such healing work.
    (16:07–18:37) "Your nervous system has been recording everything that’s ever happened to you...To feel the sensations that come from your body and trust that—it is just such an important connection." – Jennifer

• Integration & Preparation:

  • Proper nervous system preparation (e.g., developing interoceptive skill, vagus nerve work) is crucial before deep somatic or psychedelic experiences for safety and effectiveness.

5. Memory Development in Childhood & Implications for Trauma

• Infant Memory Encoding:
  • The hippocampus can’t form long-term ("enduring") memory until around age 4, so early trauma is not stored as cognitive memory but can have lasting impact via the body (somatic memory).
  • Childhood trauma can be relived in the body even without cognitive recall (e.g., emotional or physical reactions with no visual memory).
    (20:36) "My biggest adverse childhood experiences were pre-verbal...I do remember in my body and I relive that somatically in pain, in sensation, in emotion..." – Elisabeth

6. The Physiology of Memory: Hormones, HPA Axis & Cellular Memory

• Hormones and Stress:

  • Trauma triggers sympathetic arousal, producing adrenaline and cortisol, leading to lasting muscle tension and health impacts.
  • Prolonged cortisol exposes the body to disease risk and immune suppression.
    (25:09) "Prolonged stressful situations...could lead to pain...muscle atrophy...overproduction of cortisol, which actually suppresses our immune system." – Jennifer

• HPA Axis:

  • The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis governs stress hormone release.
  • Repeated trauma keeps this axis overactive, creating chronic stress conditions and impacting mental/physical health.

• Cellular & Generational Memory:

  • New research suggests trauma "imprints" can exist on a cellular level and even be passed epigenetically (modifying gene expression across generations).
  • Generational trauma manifests in behavior, attachment, physical and mental health.

7. Generational & Epigenetic Trauma

• Transmission Pathways:

  • Epigenetic changes, behavior modeling, family dynamics, and altered stress responses all contribute to generational trauma.
  • The concept of "collective memory"—how familial and ancestral trauma affects present-day experiences and health.
    (30:53) "Generational trauma can be transmitted through various mechanisms, including epigenetic changes..." – Jennifer

• Therapeutic Implications:

  • Practitioners should integrate nervous system regulation into trauma, belief, or cognitive work. Doing so prepares the brain for more neutral and effective memory processing.
    (32:15) "It is beneficial to...work with your nervous system...to bring yourself...into a more regulated, positive emotional state, especially with activating the frontal lobe." – Elisabeth

8. The Limbic System, Social Memory, and Limbic Resonance

• Limbic Functions:

  • The limbic system governs emotional processing, memory, and motivation (includes amygdala, hippocampus, hypothalamus).
  • Limbic escape ("panic button") triggers profound fight or flight responses in social and solitary settings.

• Limbic Resonance:

  • Describes unconscious emotional communication and synchronization between people.
    (36:59) "Limbic resonance is part of that...it allows for that intuitive understanding of each other’s thoughts and emotions." – Elisabeth

  • Past trauma primes the limbic system to be hypervigilant in social interactions, often leading to misperceived threat and ongoing trauma cycles.

9. Memory Repression & Recovery

• Repression as Protection:

  • Many traumatic memories are not forgotten as much as deeply repressed, surfacing only when external or internal cues make it safe.
  • Social and internal taboos about remembering or disclosing trauma influence not just what’s shared, but what is remembered at all.
    (38:19) "Much trauma is not remembered until something happens to bring it to the mind...both internal and external processes operate to keep us unaware." – Jennifer

• Power Dynamics:

  • Social power, attachment needs, or survival imperatives can dictate what’s "appropriate" to remember.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Trauma lives in the now because it's a patterned reaction occurring in our body and our brain. But that patterned reaction, it comes from somewhere." — Elisabeth (04:27)

• "Memories are actually a neurotag. They are emotional, physical and cognitive...it reactivates the physical and the emotional pieces of the experiences as if we're living it again in real time." — Jennifer (07:56)

• "Your nervous system has been recording everything that's ever happened to you...before our memories get recorded, we have somatic memory in the body." — Jennifer (16:07)

• "It has taken me a long time to trust that memory in my body because without words and cognitive memories, it's hard to make sense of." — Elisabeth (20:36)

• "We are still neuroplastic, and we are still changing. When we know how to work with the system, we can create that change." — Elisabeth (29:38)

• "Generational trauma...can lead to epigenetic modifications that affect stress response, behavior, and health in descendants." — Jennifer (30:53)

• "If we can get wired, if we were wired, if we have been wired, we can get rewired and then we can have the agency of doing that ourselves." — Jennifer (39:53)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [04:27] – Trauma and the Function of Memory
• [07:56] – Neurotag: The Web of Memory (Emotional/Physical/Cognitive)
• [10:13] – Hippocampal Structure and Memory Encoding
• [12:03] – Emotional State Influences Memory Recall
• [16:07] – Somatic Memory and Non-Visual Experience in Psychedelics
• [20:36] – Early Childhood Trauma: Preverbal/Somatic Memory
• [25:09] – Hormones, HPA Axis, and Somatic Traces of Trauma
• [30:53] – Generational Trauma and Epigenetics
• [36:59] – Limbic Resonance and Social Memory
• [38:19] – Memory Repression: Why Trauma Is Forgotten
• [39:53] – The Hope of Neuroplasticity & Rewiring

Takeaways

• Memory is not just mental—it lives in the body, shapes our nervous system, and can dictate physiological and emotional responses in the present.
• Trauma’s effects persist through implicit, somatic, and even cellular forms, influencing not only individuals but entire generations.
• Healing and repatterning are possible through intentional nervous system regulation, preparation, and somatic awareness.
• Practitioners and individuals alike benefit from integrating body-based approaches with cognitive and emotional work for trauma recovery.
• The process of trusting and working with one's own somatic memory is vital for deep healing, especially when explicit cognitive memory is absent.

Listeners leave with the empowering reminder:
“If we can get wired, we can get rewired. Living the life you envision—whatever safety or performance means for you—is all made possible in your nervous system.” (Jennifer, 39:53)