Understanding PTSD: How Brain Networks are Disrupted and How Targeted Care Can Help

While there are no exact statistics about how many people experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), it is estimated that as much as 6.8% of Americans will have PTSD at some point in their lifetime. Moreover, in any given year, about 5% of American adults have PTSD.¹ PTSD rates are slightly higher (7%) among U.S. military veterans.¹ 

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Why PTSD Can Be Difficult to Treat

PTSD can be hard to treat because trauma is complex. Individuals can experience multiple symptoms, their symptoms may change over time, and they may be dealing with other health issues (comorbidities). Treating PTSD requires significant time and commitment, and since not all treatments work for everyone, individuals afflicted with PTSD may be hesitant to try different treatments.  

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A Brain-Based Approach to PTSD Care at Salma Health

While PTSD is often described as a disorder of memory, it’s more accurate to think of it as a disorder of brain network regulation.² After trauma, the brain’s threat-detection systems can remain locked in high alert. Neuroimaging studies demonstrate that the amygdala (region responsible for signaling danger) becomes overactive in PTSD, while the prefrontal cortex (region responsible for emotional regulation) becomes underactive.^3,4,5 This imbalance makes it difficult for the brain to distinguish past threats from present safety.

Additional research indicates that the salience network, which flags experiences as important or threatening, becomes dysregulated in PTSD.^6,7,8 This disruption contributes to hypervigilance, intrusive memories, and difficulty shifting attention away from trauma-related cues.

At Salma Health, patients begin with a comprehensive evaluation that examines psychological symptoms, physical responses and, as appropriate, brain-based markers using tools such as EEG, MRI review and biomarker analysis. Understanding how trauma affects each person’s brain networks allows clinicians to design treatments that target those disruptions directly.

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Recovery Is Possible With Trauma-Informed, Integrated Care

Care often includes trauma-focused psychotherapy, medication support, and, when needed, neuromodulation. Neuromodulation is “the process of inhibition, stimulation, modification, regulation or therapeutic alteration of activity, electrically or chemically, in the central, peripheral or autonomic nervous systems.”⁹ Targeting the prefrontal cortex through neurostimulation can help restore communication between regulatory and threat-detection circuits, reducing hyperarousal and improving emotional stability. For people whose symptoms overlap with depression, SAINT® neuromodulation may influence the brain connectivity patterns involved in major depression.¹⁰

PTSD is not a failure of resilience; rather, it is a measurable alteration in how the brain processes threat and safety. With trauma-informed therapy, targeted neuromodulation and integrated care, recovery becomes far more achievable.

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<sup>1. https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/common/common_adults.asp
2. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-017-0840-4
3. https://www.scirp.org/reference/referencespapers?referenceid=2317502
4. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073858409333072
5. https://www.simplypsychology.org/hypervigilance.html
6. https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273%2816%2930640-7
7. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1133367
8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07805-2
9. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374248-3.00002-1
10. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34711062/</sup>