New research reveals that for many young children, the trauma of war can fundamentally alter how their nervous systems process and respond to the physical world. The study found that nearly half of the young survivors of the October 7 attacks developed atypical sensory patterns, causing common stimulus such as sounds, movements and touches to be perceived as overwhelming threats. These findings emphasize the critical importance of addressing sensory needs to ensure that daily environments no longer feel like a source of distress for children during their most vulnerable stages of development.

[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]– As air-raid sirens in Israel have become a frequent feature of daily life, a new study offers a sobering look at how the physical senses of young children are being fundamentally altered by the trauma of war. The research, published in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy, provides a window into the lives of children who survived the October 7, 2023, attacks and suggests that for many, the world has become a place of overwhelming sensory stimulus.

The research was led by Lihi Liberman, a postdoctoral fellow under the guidance of Prof. Yafit Gilboa from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s School of Occupational Therapy and in collaboration with Efrat Harel, an occupational therapist at Reichman University’s Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology. Together, they studied the sensory lives of 37 children from the Gaza envelope who were directly exposed to the violence and subsequently displaced from their homes.
For these children, the consequence of the trauma did not end when they reached safety. Ten months after the initial events, the researchers found that nearly half of the participants displayed atypical sensory processing patterns. This means their nervous systems were no longer interpreting everyday information like a soft touch or a distant lawnmower as neutral. Instead, these children were frequently in a state of sensory sensitivity or avoidance, where the ordinary world felt like an assault on their senses.

The researchers observed that this heightened state of alert is directly tied to emotional distress. The study found that the more a child’s sensory responses differed from the norm, the more likely they were to experience intense anxiety, fearfulness, and acting-out behaviors.

Against the backdrop of ongoing conflict, the study provides a map of the invisible toll taken on the young survivors of 2023. What might be a distant hum of activity for an adult can be an overwhelming sensory assault for a child with heightened sensitivity. These triggers do more than cause temporary fear. They create a persistent hurdle to the learning and social participation that are critical during this window of rapid brain growth.

The researchers emphasized that these findings are a call to action for the medical community. They argue that occupational therapists should be integrated into trauma care teams to help children navigate their environments. By identifying these sensory needs early, practitioners can provide families with the tools to help children feel safe in their own bodies again. As the region remains on edge, the study serves as a reminder that the scars of war are often invisible, hidden within the very way a child hears the world.