Our experiences from childhood affect the types of receptors found in our body.

Pert's theory includes a biological reason as to why different people experience the same event differently (e.g. as a challenge or threat). It relates to our childhood and family experiences. She says that our past experiences affect the types of receptors found at the nodal points spread around the body. These are areas where there is a high concentration of many receptors where much information is exchanged.

As we go through life, we are bombarded with incoming sensory information (from outside our bodies and from within). So as not to get bogged down with irrelevant information, the body uses the receptors at the nodal points to:

• filter out/select what information is noticed. Some may become conscious, other information may go unconscious and really unimportant information is completely ignored.
• prioritize information, things "to do later" or for immediate attention (e.g. urgent bodily functions)

The nodal points act as "customs officials" to the incoming information: they pick and choose which sensory stimuli to ignore and which to send through to the next check out point, where more information is gathered about the stimulus.

While our sensory organs seek out more information from the environment, the mind searches the body/brain system for past memories, learned information and feelings associated with the incoming data. Early childhood experiences help determine which receptors are at our various nodal points, and each receptor is sensitive to different peptides carrying different information and emotions. Therefore, different people will take note of different things in a situation, because their "customs officials" are trained to be aware of different information.

In a volatile environment, receptors become sensitive to signs of aggression.

For example, due to a threatening, volatile home environment, a person learns to look out for physical threats and dangers. They must protect themselves in order to survive. Their receptors become sensitive to signs in the environment that suggest aggression, and the person's behavioural response is defensive: "Don't look at me that way," or "I'll get you for that," when someone accidentally shoves the person.

Our receptors decide how much information we notice, how much goes unconscious and how much is ignored. If we end up suppressing large amounts of emotions and thoughts, they build up in our systems and cause blockages to the free flow of information, and our feedback loops are cut short. Pert says that these unprocessed emotions or suppressed trauma result in stress and dis-ease.

The feedback loops becoming smaller and limited may result in the brain being unaware of ailments in the body. These unprocessed emotions can also sometimes trigger cellular events so that the body actually works against itself (e.g. AIDS, where the white blood corpuscles kill off healthy cells instead of invaders).