Neuropsychology and neuroimaging research reports findings that traumatized individuals have problems with sustained attention and working memory, which causes difficulty performing tasks with focused concentration, and with being fully engaged in the present. This is most likely the result of a dysfunction of frontal–subcortical circuitry, and deficits in corticothalamic integration. Such dysregulation helps to explain how traumatized trafficking victims may either lash out or appeared stunned in the context of minor challenges, leaving witnesses to question the validity of victims’ responses.
Specifically, neuroimaging studies of people with PTSD have found decreased activation of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). The medial prefrontal comprises anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and medial parts of the orbito frontal prefrontal cortices. The ACC specifically has consistently been implicated in PTSD. The ACC plays a role in the experiential aspects of emotion, as well as in the integration of emotion and cognition.