Your Nervous System and Neurodivergence: Understanding the Connection

Your nervous system is working right now—as you read these words, your eyes send signals to your brain, which turns the shapes into letters and meaning. Meanwhile, it's managing your breathing, heartbeat, and countless other tasks without you thinking about them. But what is this system, and how does it relate to neurodivergence?

Your Body's Command Center

Think of your nervous system as your body's electrical wiring and control center combined. It has two main parts:

The Central Nervous System (CNS) is your brain and spinal cord—the main control hub.

The Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) is the network of nerves reaching from your spinal cord to every part of your body.

These parts work together through tiny cells called neurons. Your brain contains about 100 billion neurons that communicate through electrical and chemical signals, creating pathways that control everything you think, learn, and do.

How Information Flows

Your nervous system works like a home security system:

Sensing: Motion sensors (your eyes, ears, skin, and other sensory organs) detect what's happening around you and send signals to the control panel.

Processing: The control panel (your brain) receives all the signals, decides what they mean, and determines what to do next.

Responding: The control panel sends instructions—sounding an alarm or turning on lights. In your body, this means moving muscles or triggering other responses.

Here's where it gets interesting: neurodivergent brains—such as people with autism, ADHD and dyslexia, for example, process information differently. Research using brain imaging shows distinct patterns in neurodivergent brains: Autistic individuals show greater thickness and volume in certain brain regions, while people with ADHD show different patterns.

One of the biggest differences is in sensory processing—how the nervous system handles incoming information from your senses. Studies show that children with autism and ADHD have heightened sensory processing compared to neurotypical children.

For many neurodivergent people, everyday environments can be overwhelming. Bright lights, loud noises, or even clothing textures can trigger a stress response, putting the nervous system on high alert. But it's not always about being over-sensitive—some neurodivergent people seek out intense sensory experiences to feel balanced.

What Makes the Difference?

Research suggests structural differences in neurodivergent brains affect how they develop. In neurodivergent individuals, the brain's natural pruning process—which normally eliminates weaker neural connections—is reduced, meaning the brain keeps more connections. While this can make filtering sensory information harder, it may also boost abilities like pattern recognition, attention to detail, and memory.

These differences help explain why neurodivergent people may struggle with regulating intense emotions, including more sensitive brain regions, differences in body awareness, and sensory processing challenges.

A Different Operating System

Understanding these nervous system differences helps us see neurodivergence not as broken functioning, but as a different operating system. The neurodiversity movement views variations in brain function as natural differences rather than disorders.

When we understand that a neurodivergent person's nervous system truly processes the world differently—that overwhelming lights aren't "just something to get over" but a real neurological experience—we can create better environments. We can recognize that stimming isn't a problem but a valuable way to manage a sensitive nervous system.

Here's something to think about: In what situations, contexts or environments are you prone to feeling overwhelmed? What conditions might help prevent this from happening?