Trauma and the Polyvagal Theory: a commentary

Journal title INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY TRAUMA STUDIES
Author/s Stephen W. Porges
Publishing Year 2016 Issue 2016/1
Language English Pages 7 P. 24-30 File size 169 KB
DOI 10.3280/IJM2016-001003
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

The Author of the Polyvagal Theory clarifies how social behaviour attenuates defences promoting actions that allow to feel safe. According to this theory, interventions that stimulate the feeling of being safe and the use of social behaviour to adjust physiological states are particularly effective for the treatment of psychological disorders depending on the activation of the inadequate system of defences. Highlights the connections between functions of the peripheral nervous system and behaviour, with particular interest to neurophysiological variables associated with emotions, attachment, social communication, self-regulation, defensive strategies and psychiatric disorders. In this theory, he sustains that the evolution of the peripheral nervous system is connected with affective experience, expression of emotions, voice communication and consequent social behaviour.

Keywords: Trauma, polyvagal theory, dissociation, self-regulation.

  1. Porges S.W. (1972). Heart rate variability and deceleration as indexes of reaction time. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 92:103-110. DOI: 10.1037/H003218
  2. Porges S.W. (1973). Heart rate variability: An autonomic correlate of reaction time performance. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 1:270-272. DOI: 10.3758/BF0333336
  3. Porges S.W. (1983). Heart rate patterns in neonates: A potential diagnostic window to the brain. In: Field T.M., Sostek A.M. (Eds.), Infants born at risk: Physiological and perceptual responses (pp. 3-22). New York: Grune & Stratton.
  4. Porges S.W. (1985). U.S. Patent No. 4,520,944: Method and apparatus for evaluating rhythmic oscillations in aperiodic physiological response systems.
  5. Porges S.W. (1986). Respiratory sinus arrhythmia: Physiological basis, quantitative methods, and clinical implications. In: Grossman P., Janssen K. and Vaitl D. (Eds.), Cardiorespiratory and cardiosomatic psychophysiology (pp. 101-115). New York: Plenum Press.
  6. Porges S.W. (1988). Neonatal vagal tone: Diagnostic and prognostic implications. In: Vietze P.N., Vaughn H.G. (Eds.), Early identification of infants with developmental disabilities (pp. 147-159). Philadelphia: Grune & Stratton.
  7. Porges S.W. (1991). Vagal tone: An autonomic mediator of affect. In: Garber J.A., Dodge K.A. (Eds.), The development of affect regulation and dysregulation (pp. 111-128). New York: Cambridge University Press.
  8. Porges S.W. (1992). Autonomic regulation and attention. In: Campbell B.A., Hayne H. and Richardson R. (Eds.), Attention and information processing in infants and adults (pp. 201-223). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
  9. Porges S.W. (1995). Cardiac vagal tone: A physiological index of stress. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 19:225-233. DOI: 10.1016/0149-7634(94)00066-
  10. Porges S.W. (2001). Is there a major stress system at the periphery other than the adrenals? In Broom D.M. (Ed.), Dahlem workshop on coping with challenge: Welfare in animals including humans (pp. 135-149). Berlin: Dahlem University Press.
  11. Porges S.W. (2001). The polyvagal theory: Phylogenetic substrates of a social nervous system. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 42:123-146. DOI: 10.1016/S0167-8760(01)00162-3
  12. Porges S.W. (2007). A phylogenetic journey through the vague and ambiguous Xth cranial nerve: A commentary on contemporary heart rate variability research. Biological Psychology, 74:301-307. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2006.08.007
  13. Porges S.W. (2007). The polyvagal perspective. Biological Psychology, 74:116-143. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2006.06.009
  14. Porges S.W. (2011). The polyvagal theory. Neuropsysiological Foundations of emotions, Attachment, communication and Self-Regulation. NY: W.W. Norton & Company.
  15. Porges S.W., Arnold W.R. and Forbes E.J. (1973). Heart rate variability: An index of attentional responsivity in human newborns. Developmental Psychology, 8:85-92. DOI: 10.1037/h003379
  16. Porges S.W. and Bohrer R.E. (1990). Analyses of periodic processes in psychophysiological research. In: Cacioppo J.T. and Tassinary L.G. (Eds.), Principles of psychophysiology: Physical, social, and inferential elements (pp. 708-753). New York: Cambridge University Press.
  17. Porges S.W. and Doussard-Roosevelt J.A. (1997). The psychophysiology of temperament. In: Noshpitz J.D. (Ed.), Handbook of child and adolescent psychiatry (pp. 250- 268). New York: Wiley.
  18. Porges S.W., Doussard-Roosevelt J.A., Portales A.L. and Suess P.E. (1994). Cardiac vagal tone: Stability and relation to difficultness in infants and three-year-old children. Developmental Psychobiology, 17:289-300. DOI: 10.1002/dev.420270504
  19. Porges S.W., Doussard-Roosevelt J.A., Stifter C.A., McClenny B.D. and Riniolo T.C. (1999). Sleep state and vagal regulation of heart period patterns in the human newborn: An extension of the polyvagal theory. Psychophysiology, 36:14-21. DOI: 10.1017/S004857729997035X
  20. Porges S.W. and Greenspan S.I. (1991). Regulatory disordered infants: A common theme. In: National Institutes of Drug Abuse workshop report on Methodological Issues in Controlled Studies on Effects of Prenatal Exposure to Drugs of Abuse, National Institution Drug Abuse Research Monograph, 114:173-181.
  21. Porges S.W. and Lipsitt L.P. (1993). Neonatal responsivity to gustatory stimulation: The gustatory-vagal hypothesis. Infant Behavior and Development, 16:487-494.
  22. Porges S.W. and Maiti A.K. (1992). The smart and vegetative vagi: Implications for specialization and laterality of function [Abstract]. Psychophysiology, 2, S7.
  23. Porges S.W., McCabe P.M. and Yongue B.G. (1982). Respiratory-heart rate interactions: Psychophysiological implications for pathophysiology and behavior. In: Cacioppo J., Petty R. (Eds.), Perspectives in cardiovascular psychophysiology (pp. 223-264). New York: Guilford Press.
  24. Porges S.W. and Raskin D.C. (1969). Respiratory and heart rate components of attention. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 81:497-503.
  25. Porges S.W., Riniolo T.C., McBride T. and Campbell B. (2003). Heart rate and respiration in reptiles: Contrasts between a sit-and-wait predator and an intensive forager. Brain Cognition, 52(1):88-96.
  26. Porges S.W., Stamps L.E. and Walter G.F. (1974). Heart rate variability and newborn heart rate responses to illumination changes. Developmental Psychology, 10:507-513.

Stephen W. Porges, Trauma and the Polyvagal Theory: a commentary in "INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MULTIDISCIPLINARY TRAUMA STUDIES" 1/2016, pp 24-30, DOI: 10.3280/IJM2016-001003