When the Body Does Not Sound the Heat Alarm
Why heat vulnerability is also a neuroscience and sensory issue.
Updated May 9, 2026 | Reviewed by Lybi Ma
Most heatwave advice assumes the body will warn us when something is wrong. You feel thirsty, notice overheating, recognize exhaustion, and you seek water, shade, or rest before things become dangerous. But what happens when the brain interprets those internal signals differently?
As temperatures continue to rise around the world, conversations about heat vulnerability usually focus on external risks: lack of air conditioning, poor housing, dangerous work conditions, or limited access to healthcare. These issues matter enormously. But there is another layer to heat vulnerability that receives far less attention : how the brain perceives the body itself. In a recent paper I published in Global Public Health, I examined how differences in thermoregulation and interoception may shape heat vulnerability in autism.
Interoception refers to the brain’s perception of internal bodily states. It includes signals such as thirst, hunger, pain, heartbeat, nausea, fatigue, and body temperature. In many ways, it is the nervous system ’s internal monitoring network, the brain continuously asking: What is happening inside the body right now? Most of us rarely think about this process because it usually operates quietly in the background. A dry mouth prompts us to drink water, dizziness tells us to sit down, and overheating pushes us toward shade or cooling. The body sends signals, the brain interprets them, and we act. But neuroscience research suggests that these processes are not identical across people.
Some autistic individuals may experience differences in thermoregulation , the body’s ability to maintain internal temperature balance, as well as differences in interoceptive processing. Research has found altered responses to thermal stimuli, as well as differences in awareness and interpretation of internal bodily signals. In practical terms, this can mean that overheating, thirst, or physiological stress may not always register in the expected way.
A sensory-related disability
Not absent. Not imaginary. But sometimes delayed, muted, inconsistent, or harder to interpret. And during extreme heat, timing matters. Heat illness is dangerous precisely because it often develops gradually. Dehydration accumulates, cardiovascular strain increases, and core temperature rises. The brain depends on internal sensory cues to recognize that something is wrong early enough to respond.
Much of public health guidance assumes these signals are detected clearly: Drink water when thirsty, rest when overheated, and leave when uncomfortable. But these recommendations depend on a hidden assumption, that everyone experiences internal bodily warning signals similarly. That assumption may not always hold. For some autistic individuals, physiological stress may escalate before conscious awareness fully catches up. The body may not sound the alarm in the way public health systems expect.
And heat itself is also a sensory experience: bright sunlight, humidity. sticky skin sensations, loud fans, crowded cooling centers, overlapping conversations, unpredictable environments, and transportation disruptions. For many autistic people, these are not minor inconveniences. They can become sources of significant sensory overload.
This creates an important paradox: the very spaces designed to protect autistics during heatwaves may themselves become difficult to tolerate. A cooling center may technically exist while remaining functionally inaccessible.
This is why conversations about climate resilience cannot focus only on infrastructure. They must also consider neurophysiology, sensory processing , differences in communication, and the diversity of human nervous systems. Accessibility is not only ramps and compliance checklists. It is also sensory design, communication formats, predictability, quiet spaces, and whether systems assume only one “normal” way of experiencing the body.
As heatwaves become more frequent, perhaps the question is no longer only how we cool cities, but whether we understand the very different ways human bodies experience danger in the first place.
Srinivasan, H. (2026). Silent signals : Autism, disability, and heat vulnerability in a warming world. Global Public Health , 21 (1).
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Hari Srinivasan is a neuroscience Ph.D. candidate at Vanderbilt University, an alumni of UC Berkeley, and a recipient of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, as well as the PD Soros Fellowship.
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This article is part of the Bringwise Psychology Journal — daily insights on human behavior, mental health, and personal growth.