Melis Ezgi Cakar, PhD | University of California, Los Angeles (2025)
The findings from Melis Ezgi Cakar’s 2025 dissertation, “The Involvement of the Cerebellum in Sensory Over-Responsivity in Autism,” have strong and affirming implications for Ayres Sensory Integration® (ASI) practice, especially when working with people who present with sensory over-responsivity.
Here’s what it means:
1. Reinforces the Neurobiological Foundation of ASI
Ayres’ Sensory Integration has always emphasised the cerebellum’s key role in sensorimotor integration, postural control, and modulation. This research confirms:
- The sensorimotor cerebellum is functionally and structurally altered in autism, particularly in those with sensory over-responsivity
- These changes are directly linked to real-life sensory modulation difficulties, validating the foundational ASI principle that brain-body sensory processing affects participation.
2. Supports the Targeting of Cerebellar-Based Functions
In ASI, therapists focus on activities that promote:
- Adaptive responses
- Postural control
- Praxis (ideation, planning, sequencing)
All of which are cerebellum-reliant.
This research underscores the need to intentionally engage the cerebellum through play-based, movement-rich, multisensory activities. It reinforces that ASI therapy with fidelity that involves vestibular, proprioceptive, and tactile input isn’t just “helpful”; it is a neurologically targeted intervention.
3. Validates the ASI Focus on Habituation and Responsivity
Cakar found reduced neural habituation and increased cerebellar activation in autistic youth with sensory over-responsivity.
This affirms:
- That ASI emphasises creating “just-right” sensory challenges that support gradual habituation to sensory input.
- The core features of Fidelity Measure in ASI are intentionality in offering and supporting sensory-motor activities at the “just-right” challenge in a safe, playful environment where the person participates actively.
4. Encourages Integration with Emerging Neuroscience
Cakar’s work uses fMRI, MRS, and functional connectivity analyses, linking:
- Cerebellar activity
- Thalamic GABAergic inhibition
- Sensory-limbic pathways (e.g., amygdala)
This gives ASI practitioners new language and evidence to:
- Explain the “why” behind sensory behaviours
- Advocate for sensory-informed, body-based, and neurologically-grounded interventions
- Bridge ASI with precision neuroscience models
Summary for ASI Clinicians
This research affirms that the cerebellum, long recognised in ASI as central to sensory-motor development, is indeed a key player in the sensory modulation difficulties faced by autistic individuals.
It strengthens the case, promoting high fidelity ASI as a neurodevelopmentally-aligned, evidence-supported approach to addressing SOR through individualised, sensory and movement-rich therapy that targets adaptive functions via the senses to promotoe participation in everyday life.
