This episode examines auditory processing challenges in autism, focusing on "listening dissonance"—the overwhelming blending of sounds due to reduced inhibition in the auditory brainstem pathway. It explains how high excitation and low parvalbumin interneuron activity cause unfiltered sensory input from the cochlear nucleus through the superior olive and inferior colliculus to overwhelm the thalamus and auditory cortex. Using a water hose analogy, the episode illustrates how poor filtering leads to sensory overload, recruiting higher cortical areas like the medial prefrontal cortex and salience network (ACC and anterior insula) in a failed top-down attempt to quiet noise. The result is emotional hijacking, adaptive failure, and real-world risks like fleeing to dangerous places, with practical implications like noise-canceling headphones and the n ...