What is The Function of The Limbic System?
The Limbic System is a network of brain structures responsible for processing emotions, memory, and your body’s stress response.
Rather than reviewing the detailed anatomy (which you can explore on our condition page), what matters most here is this:
The Limbic System acts as your brain’s threat detection and response center. When functioning normally, it activates only in real danger. When dysregulated, it can remain switched on even when you are safe – something often reflected in results from a limbic system dysfunction test or a general limbic test.
When each of these structures functions, individually or together, the Limbic System promotes survival through feeding, reproduction, and fight-or-flight responses. Without the Limbic System, the natural urge to survive would not exist. Even though the Limbic System is key for our survival, everyday human experiences can sometimes create a somewhat false sensation of constant danger. When the Limbic System perceives a threat, it activates your fight-or-flight response. If this response becomes chronically activated, your body may stay in a prolonged stress state — even in everyday situations that are not dangerous.
When the Sympathetic Nervous System is activated, we may feel certain sensations, including:
- Increased heart rate and respiration rate
- Increased blood pressure
- Dilated pupils and tunnel vision
- Fear or anxiety
- Hypervigilance
- The sensation to fight back, run away, freeze in place, or appease the threat.
Chronic stress (you know, like not getting enough sleep, night after night?!) can lead to persistent Sympathetic Nervous System activation. This is often the largest contributor to Limbic System Dysfunction and often creates more stress in moments that are not inherently stressful or dangerous.
What Are Some of The Side Effects of Limbic System Dysfunction?
When the stress response remains chronically activated, symptoms may develop across multiple body systems. These can include:
- Heightened sensitivity to light, sound, smell, or touch
- Persistent fatigue
- Sleep disturbances
- Anxiety or low mood
- Brain fog or memory difficulties
- Hormonal or immune irregularities
Because this process affects the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems, symptoms can appear wide-ranging and sometimes seemingly unrelated.
It is important to recognize that Limbic System Dysfunction is on a spectrum and manifests in a multitude of ways. While one person may notice sleep disorders, chronic fatigue, and long-term memory impairment, another person may notice the overproduction of cortisol, heightened responses to everyday stimuli, or the adoption of maladaptive coping mechanisms. Whatever your symptoms may be, and however intense they are, they can eventually be neutralized with brain retraining and neuroplasticity.
How to Reduce Symptoms of Limbic System Dysfunction
The value in understanding this information is that it empowers us to take action on limiting Sympathetic Nervous System activation in our daily lives, thus limiting symptoms of impairment of the Limbic System. While doing this, we can also work towards decreasing overall life stress and calming the Limbic System. Some of the simplest ways to do this include:
- Freeing up time in your day to take short rest breaks
- Shifting from high-intensity exercise to slow, mindful movement kinds
- Partaking in breathwork—focusing on making your exhales longer than your inhales
- Taking slow walks outside while focusing on nature
- Meditating before bed
- Engaging in fun and uplifting content (movies, books, podcasts, etc.) and activities (games, creating art, playing with pets, etc.)
- Focusing on being fully present and savoring each moment instead of trying to multitask
- Participating in brain retraining to shift the way your Limbic System responds to your symptoms
- Joining a brain retraining community to build connections with like-minded people.
Many of these activities engage the prefrontal cortex and midbrain. Doing this can shift your awareness from Limbic System reactions towards conscious awareness, thus decreasing symptoms of Limbic System Dysfunction.
It can also be helpful to gently participate in any of these activities while in a Sympathetic state. This can also calm your Limbic System and create a positive association with your symptoms. As neuropsychologist Norman Doidge once said, “Neurons that fire together wire together.” So, the more you participate in uplifting and positive activities during moments of symptom activation, the calmer your Limbic System, and the less discomfort you will feel while experiencing symptoms. It’s a win-win situation!
The encouraging news is that the brain is capable of change through neuroplasticity. If the stress response has been conditioned into a heightened state, it can also be retrained into a calmer, more regulated one.
This quiz is designed to help you explore whether this pattern may be relevant for you.
At re-origin, we offer a 28-day brain retraining program to help address Limbic System Dysfunction. Join or learn more about re-origin’s brain retraining program today.
