Brain imaging shows cognitive reappraisal reduces sensory overload in autistic children

For autistic children, the world often arrives too loudly, too roughly, too insistently — and science has long struggled to offer more than observation. A UCLA study now suggests that the brain's response to overwhelming sensation can be quietly redirected through a simple shift in perspective, one borrowed from journalism and rooted in the well-worn architecture of cognitive behavioral therapy. The finding does not yet promise relief in daily life, but it marks a meaningful turn: from mapping the problem to testing its remedies.