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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health

Neural mechanisms of sensory over-responsivity in youth with early caregiver-related adversity

  • Megan Banchik1,2
  • Adriana S. Méndez Leal3
  • Melis E. Cakar4
  • Audra K. Langley5,4,6
  • Jill M. Waterman3
  • Nim Tottenham7
  • Shulamite A. Green5,3
7 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Clinical Child Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS USA
  2. 2University of Kansas Lifespan Institute, Lawrence, KS USA
  3. 3Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA USA
  4. 4Neuroscience Interdepartmental Program, Ahmanson Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA USA
  5. 5Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Jane & Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles, CA USA
  6. 6Los Angeles Pritzker Center for Strengthening Children and Families, University of California, Los Angeles, CA USA
  7. 7Department of Psychology, Columbia University, New York, NY USA
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Abstract

Sensory over-responsivity (SOR) is an impairing sensory processing challenge prevalent across a range of clinical and neurodevelopmental populations, as well as those with experiences of early caregiver-related adversity. Despite its prevalence and impairing nature, little research exists investigating SOR, and its distinct, underlying neural mechanisms, in early caregiver-related adversity. We examined SOR in children and adolescents ages 7–17 years old who were adopted from foster care (AFC; n = 31) and non-adopted comparisons (NAC; n = 26). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated neural activity and functional connectivity in response to mildly aversive auditory and tactile stimulation and its relationship to SOR. The AFC group had elevated SOR scores as well as greater activation in somatosensory cortex compared to NAC. Within the AFC group, those with lower SOR showed increased activation of subcortical (thalamus, amygdala, hippocampus) and cortical (pre- and post-central gyri, and cingulate gyrus) regions. In the AFC group, negative functional-connectivity was observed between prefrontal and sensory regions, across sensory regions, and between sensory regulation and sensory reactivity-related regions. While sensory-evoked activation results suggest that children with early caregiver-related adversity show some hyperactivity to aversive sensory stimulation, consistent with other clinical groups, connectivity analyses suggest additional, unique mechanisms of SOR. Furthermore, functional-connectivity results provide evidence that children with early caregiver-related adversity may develop compensatory mechanisms that contribute to resilience for SOR. Results help explain individual differences in SOR in youth with early caregiver-related adversity and suggest a potential neural basis for some resilience to more severe SOR in these youth.

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-026-01152-y.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{banchik2026neural,
  title = {{Neural mechanisms of sensory over-responsivity in youth with early caregiver-related adversity}},
  author = {Megan Banchik and Adriana S. Méndez Leal and Melis E. Cakar and Audra K. Langley and Jill M. Waterman and Nim Tottenham and Shulamite A. Green},
  journal = {Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health},
  year = {2026},
  month = aug,
  doi = {10.1186/s13034-026-01152-y},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-026-01152-y},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Neural mechanisms of sensory over-responsivity in youth with early caregiver-related adversity
AU  - Megan Banchik
AU  - Adriana S. Méndez Leal
AU  - Melis E. Cakar
AU  - Audra K. Langley
AU  - Jill M. Waterman
AU  - Nim Tottenham
AU  - Shulamite A. Green
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/08
JO  - Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health
DO  - 10.1186/s13034-026-01152-y
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-026-01152-y
AB  - Sensory over-responsivity (SOR) is an impairing sensory processing challenge prevalent across a range of clinical and neurodevelopmental populations, as well as those with experiences of early caregiver-related adversity. Despite its prevalence and impairing nature, little research exists investigating SOR, and its distinct, underlying neural mechanisms, in early caregiver-related adversity. We examined SOR in children and adolescents ages 7–17 years old who were adopted from foster care (AFC; n = 31) and non-adopted comparisons (NAC; n = 26). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we investigated neural activity and functional connectivity in response to mildly aversive auditory and tactile stimulation and its relationship to SOR. The AFC group had elevated SOR scores as well as greater activation in somatosensory cortex compared to NAC. Within the AFC group, those with lower SOR showed increased activation of subcortical (thalamus, amygdala, hippocampus) and cortical (pre- and post-central gyri, and cingulate gyrus) regions. In the AFC group, negative functional-connectivity was observed between prefrontal and sensory regions, across sensory regions, and between sensory regulation and sensory reactivity-related regions. While sensory-evoked activation results suggest that children with early caregiver-related adversity show some hyperactivity to aversive sensory stimulation, consistent with other clinical groups, connectivity analyses suggest additional, unique mechanisms of SOR. Furthermore, functional-connectivity results provide evidence that children with early caregiver-related adversity may develop compensatory mechanisms that contribute to resilience for SOR. Results help explain individual differences in SOR in youth with early caregiver-related adversity and suggest a potential neural basis for some resilience to more severe SOR in these youth.  Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-026-01152-y.
SN  - 1753-2000
ER  -