Sensory processing Impairments and Health
WHO defines health as a “State of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.
The acute care model of illness is the dominant paradigm in healthcare today. Treatments are symptom focused. In 1900s infectious diseases were the leading causes of death. This led to the popularity of the germ theory which stated that diseases are due to an interaction between a microorganism and a host.
Today majority of illnesses [pre covid] are noninfectious type. These diseases do not fit into the single cause, single illness, single treatment model. But the same model of 1900s is being practiced. COVID has shown that a patient’s progress is never dependent solely on the disease or problem alone. We don’t treat the disease we treat humans.
Appreciating this lacuna many medical centers today have a department of Integrated Medicine combining Allopathy and Ayurveda. Many leading universities in USA and a few in India also have a department of Mind Body medicine. Yoga, Pranayama, Meditation, Music are some of the common modalities adopted.
In my opinion they have certain inert inadequacies. Let me explain…...
Traditionally the communication between the body and brain has been considered to be one sided, i.e., brain issuing commands to the body. But recent studies have shown this communication is a dynamic, ongoing two-way dialogue with each organ continuously influencing the other. This two-way communication is very important for proper functioning of the individual.
The information relayed from the body to the brain constitutes the sensory system, while commands from the brain to body constitute the motor system. The senses - see, hear, touch, taste, smell, vestibular, proprioceptive and interoception form the sensory system. Sensations tell the brain what the body is perceiving, then the brain tells the body what to do. The quality of information perceived by the brain to large extent influences the motor commands of the brain. This system of sensory integration is vital for the body to maintain Homeostasis.
Some estimates suggest, the brain receives about sixty thousand sensory inputs each minute. If this information is not gated [edited] then we will have an information overload leading to attention deficits. The gating system selects on what to focus. Thus, the quality of information that passes through the gating system determines the bodily response. Thus, what we are and how we respond is largely dependent on the gating system in our brain. These unique attributes help in creating the identity of an individual.
This whole system of sensory perception and the gating system constitute the sensory processing function or capabilities of an individual.
Once a specific sensory information passes through the gating system, it elicits a motor response. There are templates stored in the subcortical brain [sub conscious mind] which determine the type of motor response for a particular sensory input. These templates are partly innate and partly acquired. The templates keep constantly updating. It is a very dynamic system.
If the sensory processing system senses threat it will activate fight and flight response. If it senses safety it relaxes. Like in any system aberrations can occur, in the sensory processing system. There can be inability to pick up safety cues in a safe environment or the inability to pick up threat cues in a risky environment. This can cause an individual to activate his/her defensive system in a safe environment or deactivate the defensive system in a risky environment. The state of optimal performance depends on gathering the right sensations.
Perception of threat wrongly over a long period of time could lead an individual to be stuck in the fight and flight state. For them life is a struggle. Their brains will initiate the production of stress hormones. This shuts off our immune system, our growth and our ability to think. If this state persists for a long time, it can be a precursor for various diseases…. And ultimately the individual may end up in the casualty of a hospital.
Fortunately, our ability to maintain equilibrium by proper sensory processing [i.e., picking up the right perceptions] is innate to our being. It is not a learned behaviour. Aberrations occur when we get in the way of our innate ability. Unlearning these learned behaviours is the key to mastery over sensory processing.
Sensory processing issues are known to occur in children, especially those with learning difficulties. Sensory processing issues can occur later in life also. I feel sensory processing difficulties have been under stated/diagnosed problem in adults. It is an important precursor to many chronic diseases.
Coming to my earlier statement of inert inadequacies of certain modalities….
Among various senses endowed to humans, hearing or auditory function is one of them. We live in a noisy world. The ability to extract human speech sounds in this noisy world is an innate ability. This constitutes the auditory processing capability of the individual.
Music therapy works by making the individual hear to energizing frequencies. Generally, these are high frequency sounds. Surrounding noise is of lower frequencies. If an individual has an auditory [sensory] processing issue, he/she may not be able to pick up the high frequency energizing sounds of the music therapy. He/she may pick up only low frequency sounds. Hence in these people music therapy may not give the desired effect.
For many of these treatments to work the sensory processing challenges of the individual have to be sorted out. The key to success of these treatments is to address the sensory processing issues first.
The ultimate goal is to achieve a peak performance state which is characterized by “A sense of inner calm, a high degree of concentration, and at the same time an ability to integrate sensations from the environment and ourselves with our immediate goals i.e., an extra ordinary sense of awareness”.
When all parts of the body and the brain work in tandem it is called Coherence. Coherence is when there is synchronization between various parts of the body and brain. Here the “Whole is more than the sum of individual parts”.
