What is sensory integration?
by Jacqueline Raposo for GoodRx Health
Image: A photograph of a white woman with red hair and red painted fingernails holding folders with tabs stickers on them and more stickers on her face and hair
Key takeaways:
Sensory integration (also called sensory processing) is how we identify information coming in from our senses, organize it, and respond. It helps us understand how to act in specific situations.
Some people struggle with sensory processing. They may be hypersensitive to stimulation or have a sensory processing disorder.
Self-regulation strategies — such as identifying overwhelming sensations and accommodating our space or habits to ease them — can help address sensory processing issues.
Imagine you’re in a familiar room, talking with a friend. You sit in a comfortable chair. You’re not hungry. It’s quiet. And you’re not in a rush to leave.
Now imagine the same conversation in a crowded room. Loud music plays. You shift your body as other people move around you. You’re hungry and a bit late to the next place you have to be.
Carrying the conversation is more challenging, right? But if you can still hear your friend, focus on the conversation, and move your body without overwhelm, you’re doing so because of sensory integration.
How does sensory integration work?
Sensory integration (or sensory processing) is how our brain identifies information from our senses, organizes it, and reacts. It helps us filter out unnecessary information. And it helps us appropriately respond to the people and things around us.
Our senses constantly scan the world around us:
Smell: The olfactory bulb in our nose transmits odors to the frontal cortex in our brain.
Sight: The retinas in our eyes send visual information across the visual cortex.
Hearing: The auditory cortex absorbs sound from our ears.
Taste: Taste buds in your mouth sense flavors.
Touch: Sensors in your skin tell you about textures, temperature, and pressure.
Vestibular: This is your sense of movement and balance. It tells you where you are in space and allows you to move smoothly.
Proprioception: This sense tells you where your body parts are in relation to each other.
Internal senses (interoception): The sense of what’s going on inside of your body, like whether you are hungry, thirsty, or need to go to the bathroom.
Your brain takes in all of this complex information and organizes it. This helps you know what needs your attention and what you can ignore. It also alerts our central nervous system if a stimulant needs attention. And it triggers our autonomic nervous system’s fight-or-flight response when necessary.
With the help of sensory integration, we understand how to respond to the scenario in front of us. It also helps us experience the world as a whole rather than as thousands of unique sensations.
