Sensory Integration
How your brain combines information from all your senses into one coherent experience of the world.
The brain's process of combining information from all senses — sight, sound, touch, taste, smell, balance, body position, and internal signals — into a unified experience. When sensory integration works smoothly, you can walk through a busy street without being overwhelmed. When it doesn't, ordinary environments can feel chaotic.
How it works
Your brain takes input from sight, sound, touch, smell, taste, balance, and body position and weaves them together seamlessly. When sensory integration works differently, these streams can feel disjointed — sounds might feel 'louder' when you're also processing bright light, or textures might be unbearable when you're tired.
Think of it like
It's like a mixing desk at a concert — when all the channels are balanced, the music sounds great. When they're off, one instrument drowns out everything else.
What it feels like
The world might feel 'too much' in ways you can't always pinpoint, because it's not just one sense — it's the combination of all of them at once.