--- title: "Sensory Overload – What Happens in the Brain | Brain Model" description: "What happens in the healthy human brain during sensory overload – thalamus, ACC and locus coeruleus at capacity. Interactive visualisation." canonical: https://www.brainmodel.digital/understand-the-brain/sensory-overload/ parent: https://www.brainmodel.digital/understand-the-brain/ author: Johannes Faupel site: brainmodel.digital — Anatomically interactive. Scientifically precise. No therapeutic school. license: Citation welcome with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. type: educational — healthy-brain function, not diagnosis or therapy --- > **Canonical page (cite this):** [Map 32 – Sensory Overload](https://www.brainmodel.digital/understand-the-brain/sensory-overload/) # Map 32 – Sensory Overload What happens in the healthy brain when too many stimuli arrive simultaneously and exceed processing capacity ## Anatomically and biochemically The brain does not process all incoming sensory stimuli simultaneously and equally. The **thalamus** – the brain's relay station, through which almost all sensory information passes – performs a gating function: it decides which signals are forwarded to which cortical areas, and suppresses irrelevant signals. This gate has a capacity. When too many signals arrive at once – a loud environment, visual noise, multiple simultaneous conversations, digital notifications – the gate approaches its limit. The **anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)** registers the overload and reports it as a conflict. The **dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC)** tries to prioritise – which stimulus matters? – but prioritisation itself consumes executive resources. The **anterior insula** translates the overload into a bodily feeling: pressure behind the eyes, tension in the neck, an immediate need for silence. The **amygdala** rates the situation as a threat. The signal reaches the **locus coeruleus (LC)**, which releases noradrenaline broadly across the cortex – raising arousal further and burdening the filter still more. Why does sensory overload cause fatigue so quickly? Because the dlPFC under heavy stimulus load is permanently prioritising and regulating – capacity that is then unavailable for everything else. What is most exhausting about sensory overload? Suppressing irrelevant stimuli is itself an active, resource-intensive performance. Why does recovery from sensory overload sometimes take hours of genuine quiet? Because catecholamines (noradrenaline, adrenaline) and with sustained load also cortisol remain in the system, and the thalamus filter needs time to regain full capacity. Sleep is the most effective restoration process. ## Examples from everyday life - **Train station or airport:** Acoustic, visual and social stimuli arrive simultaneously. The thalamus filter approaches capacity. Exhaustion arrives faster than the travel itself. - **Open-plan office:** Background conversations, movement, screens: the dlPFC actively suppresses irrelevant stimuli – depleting exactly the resources needed for focused work. - **Social over-stimulation:** After a long evening with many people: the brain has processed many social signals. The need for withdrawal is neurobiologically real. - **High sensory sensitivity:** Some people have a thinner thalamic filter – not as a deficit, but as a neuroanatomical trait. Sensory overload sets in sooner. - **Screen before sleep:** Visual and auditory stimuli keep the thalamus active. Switching off is difficult because the filter is still working when the body should be sleeping. ## What this card does not say This card describes a normal mechanism in the healthy human brain. The need for withdrawal during sensory overload is a meaningful signal, not a sign of weakness. This card is not a diagnostic tool and not a treatment guide. ## You now understand what happens in the brain during sensory overload. Three ways to go further: **① Deepen now – Mind Rooms** The complete e-book on the spatial method for mental clarity. $9.70 [View e-book](https://www.mindrooms.net/e-book/) Or order via email: buch@exponere.de $9.70 via PayPal, the e-book will be sent to your PayPal email **② Community – skool.com/supervision** Daily answers from Johannes Faupel to community questions and discussion of the maps. $37 / month [Join skool.com/supervision](https://www.skool.com/supervision) **③ Personal contact – Phone** Questions about publications or booking options for Johannes Faupel? +49 69 68 60 12 99 Please note that no questions on psychological or related topics can be answered. ## Scientific sources for this map: 1. Wood, E., Cummings, K., Jung, J., Patterson, G., Okada, N., Guo, J., O'Neill, J., Dapretto, M., Bookheimer, S., & Green, S. (2021). Sensory over-responsivity is related to GABAergic inhibition in thalamocortical circuits. *Translational Psychiatry, 11*. [doi.org/10.1038/s41398-020-01154-0](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-020-01154-0) 2. Green, S., Rudie, J., Colich, N., Wood, J., Shirinyan, D., Hernandez, L., Tottenham, N., Dapretto, M., & Bookheimer, S. (2013). Overreactive brain responses to sensory stimuli in youth with autism spectrum disorders. *Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 52*, 1158–1172. [doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2013.08.004](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2013.08.004) 3. Acevedo, B., Aron, E., Pospos, S., & Jessen, D. (2018). The functional highly sensitive brain: A review of the brain circuits underlying sensory processing sensitivity and seemingly related disorders. *Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 373*. [doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0161](https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0161) --- *These visualisations are scientific educational representations of normal brain functions in the healthy human brain. They are not diagnostic tools, not therapy, and not a substitute for medical or psychotherapeutic treatment. If you suspect a mental health condition, please consult a licensed professional.* --- *Source page: https://www.brainmodel.digital/understand-the-brain/sensory-overload/ · Author: Johannes Faupel · educational — healthy-brain function, not diagnosis or therapy.*