Neural Correlates of Dissociative Identity Disorder

Neural Correlates of Dissociative Identity Disorder
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Neural Correlates of Dissociative Identity Disorder
Introduction
While dissociative disorders were in the past alienated from the clinical and scientific arena. However, in the last several years, they have received a renewed interest, with investigators demonstrating their underlying neural correlates. Dissociative disorders entail transient or disruptions of otherwise integrated functions of consciousness, memory, and identity (Şar, 2017). In the past, dissociative disorders subsumed under the diagnostic construct of hysteria. Such a categorization meant that dissociative disorders were viewed as the occurrences of different constellations with unexplained medical symptoms. Dissociative disorders were also seen to lack tissue pathology to account for symptoms. One of the common dissociative disorders is dissociative identity disorder (DID). The exact causes of DID are not fully understood. Research on trauma-related pathological dissociation demonstrates that it includes a wide range of disruptions in peoples' psychological experiences (Boyer, Caplan & Edwards, 2022). Some researchers seem to suggest that DID develops as a response to severe trauma, especially in childhood. When individuals undergo a traumatic experience, pathological disassociation is a common experience. Trauma can take different forms ranging from physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, to neglect, and exposure to violence. This paper will delve into the neural correlates of DID.
The role of Childhood Trauma
Individuals who have experienced stress or trauma during childhood are vulnerable to DID. Children are not born with a sense of a unified identity. Instead, the unified identity develops as a result of numerous experiences and comes from different sources. When children are overwhelmed by life’s events, most of the parts that should be blended remain separate. Their brains have not yet developed to handle traumatic events more effectively than adults. As a result, when traumatic events occur, they will have more adverse effects than then for adults. Unlike most children who manage cohesive appreciation of themselves, a majority of severely mistreated children may undergo different phases where their memories, perception, and emotions are kept separate (Ogundele, 2018). For instance, when parents and guardians alternate between affection and mistreatment, the children may develop the ability to escape the challenges by detaching themselves from the physical environment or retreating to their minds. Each traumatic experience can generate a different identity. While childhood trauma has been pinpointed as an important contributor to DID, it is not sufficient to demonstrate the origins of the disorder (Şar, Dorahy & Krüger, 2017). Neural correlation offers more details regarding DID.
Low Volumes of Hippocampal and Amygdalar
Through neuroimaging studies, researchers have identified the areas of the brain that operate differently in DID patients. An examination of the effects of neurodevelopment can account for differences observed between a normal brain and one with DID, by considering the volumes of the hippocampal and am...