About this Research Topic
Interdisciplinary scholars, including anthropology, sociology, philosophy, medicine, and neuroscience, have studied human sensory processing. This has led to an abundance of sensory processing theories which posit different conceptualizations of the relationship between human sensory processing and environmental conditions, cognition, emotions, mental health, physical health, and participation in meaningful activities. Humans experience a range of biological conditions which can result in distinct sensory processing patterns (e.g., autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, developmental disorders, etc.). Despite formidable technological advances in neuroimaging to explore the most fundamental neural sensory activity, there remains a dearth of research exploring the relationship of human sensory processing to participate in meaningful activities, community integration, and inclusion in society. Research addressing this gap in the literature can contribute to the development of interventions, policies, and other initiatives to support the meaningful participation, quality of life, and inclusion of all persons regardless of their sensory processing capacities.
Research has demonstrated that sensory processing patterns are associated with mental health, physical health, emotional regulation, and a person’s capacity to perform tasks. The majority of research on sensory processing has adopted the biomedical model which conceptualizes sensory processing mechanistically as transmitting sense data from the environment to the central nervous system for integration and processing. Research exploring these processes tends to use sophisticated neural imaging or heavily controlled lab experiments to isolate sensory processing. As a result, these approaches have generated understandings of sensory processing which are acontextual, ahistorical, and not reflective of the everyday human lived sensory experience. There is insufficient research exploring the lived experience of sensory processing and its relationship to participation in meaningful activities, community integration, and inclusion in society. Since a proportion of the human population experiences atypical sensory processing patterns, there is a critical need to further explore the aforementioned relationships to support the health and wellbeing of persons with diverse sensory processing. Therefore, the goal of this Research Topic is to expand understandings of the relationship between human sensory processing and meaningful participation, community integration, and inclusion.
We welcome empirical research and theoretical papers which explore the relationship between sensory processing and themes related to meaningful participation, community integration, and inclusion. We welcome research from diverse perspectives including anthropology, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, occupational science, performance studies, sociology, and others. Themes of particular interest include studies exploring: the lived experience of sensory processing using participatory methods, sensory processing and meaningful activity, sensory processing and community integration, sensory processing and inclusion, embodiment, emplacement, novel research methods for studying sensory processing, new methods for measuring sensory processing that capture the experience and environmental adaptations (e.g., physical, social, cultural, etc.) to support the participation of persons with atypical sensory processing.
Research has demonstrated that sensory processing patterns are associated with mental health, physical health, emotional regulation, and a person’s capacity to perform tasks. The majority of research on sensory processing has adopted the biomedical model which conceptualizes sensory processing mechanistically as transmitting sense data from the environment to the central nervous system for integration and processing. Research exploring these processes tends to use sophisticated neural imaging or heavily controlled lab experiments to isolate sensory processing. As a result, these approaches have generated understandings of sensory processing which are acontextual, ahistorical, and not reflective of the everyday human lived sensory experience. There is insufficient research exploring the lived experience of sensory processing and its relationship to participation in meaningful activities, community integration, and inclusion in society. Since a proportion of the human population experiences atypical sensory processing patterns, there is a critical need to further explore the aforementioned relationships to support the health and wellbeing of persons with diverse sensory processing. Therefore, the goal of this Research Topic is to expand understandings of the relationship between human sensory processing and meaningful participation, community integration, and inclusion.
We welcome empirical research and theoretical papers which explore the relationship between sensory processing and themes related to meaningful participation, community integration, and inclusion. We welcome research from diverse perspectives including anthropology, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, occupational science, performance studies, sociology, and others. Themes of particular interest include studies exploring: the lived experience of sensory processing using participatory methods, sensory processing and meaningful activity, sensory processing and community integration, sensory processing and inclusion, embodiment, emplacement, novel research methods for studying sensory processing, new methods for measuring sensory processing that capture the experience and environmental adaptations (e.g., physical, social, cultural, etc.) to support the participation of persons with atypical sensory processing.
Keywords: Meaningful participation, sensory processing, inclusion, community integration, justice
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