Primary Reflexes, Stress Response, and Auditory Hypersensitivity: An MNRI® Perspective

Auditory hypersensitivity is often misunderstood as a hearing problem. In many cases, hearing is normal—but the nervous system is responding to sound as a threat. From an MNRI® perspective, this response is frequently linked to incomplete integration of primary reflexes that govern survival, stress regulation, and sensory processing.

Developmental Relationship of the Reflexes

The Fear Paralysis Reflex (FPR) is the earliest reflex in the stress-response chain, emerging in utero. Its role is survival through immobilization, or freeze, when danger is perceived. FPR establishes the foundation for how the nervous system interprets safety versus threat.

As development progresses, FPR should integrate and give way to the Moro Reflex, which appears at birth. Moro is an active alarm reflex. Sudden sensory input—such as sound, movement, light, or loss of support—triggers a full-body startle, rapid inhalation, and activation of the sympathetic nervous system. Moro introduces the fight-or-flight response, shifting the body from freeze into action.

With healthy maturation, Moro integrates and refines into the Adult Startle Response. This mature response is brief, proportional, and quickly regulated by higher cortical centers, allowing a person to orient to unexpected stimuli without becoming overwhelmed.

What Happens When Integration Is Incomplete

When Fear Paralysis remains active, the nervous system is primed to interpret stimuli as threatening at baseline. The body may default to freeze, shutdown, or dissociation rather than adaptive responses. This creates chronic vigilance and fear.

If Moro is also retained, the system can oscillate between:

• Freeze (FPR) and
• Explosive sympathetic activation (Moro)

This unstable stress pattern may result in exaggerated startle, sensory defensiveness, emotional reactivity, and difficulty returning to calm after stress. In adulthood, this often presents as an overactive Adult Startle, where ordinary sounds trigger racing heart, breath holding, muscle tension, or a sense of danger even when no true threat exists.

Impact on Panic, Fight/Flight, and Sound Sensitivity

Retained FPR and Moro disrupt the nervous system's hierarchy of stress regulation. Panic responses may occur when Moro activates suddenly without adequate cortical control. Chronic anxiety may reflect ongoing FPR activation, where the body anticipates danger even at rest.

Because sound is processed rapidly through the brainstem, auditory input becomes a powerful trigger. The nervous system reacts before conscious thought, leading to auditory hypersensitivity, difficulty filtering background noise, listening fatigue, and emotional responses to sound.

In MNRI® terms, the auditory system remains linked to survival circuits rather than higher-level processing needed for efficient listening.

In Simple Terms

This pattern can be compared to a broken alarm system:

• FPR retained: the alarm is always armed
• Moro retained: the alarm goes off suddenly and loudly
• Adult startle not refined: there is no quick off switch

As a result, everyday sounds may feel overwhelming or unsafe, even when the person knows cognitively that they are not in danger.

Why Integration Matters

When Fear Paralysis, Moro, and Adult Startle are well integrated:

• Freeze, fight, and flight are available but not dominant
• Startle responses are brief and informative
• The nervous system can mobilize when needed and rest when safe
• Sound is processed as information, not threat

MNRI® reflex integration supports regulation at the brainstem level, allowing the auditory system to tolerate sound more comfortably and reducing panic, stress reactivity, and sensory overload.

How MNRI® Helps

The MNRI® (Masgutova Neurosensorimotor Reflex Integration) method works at the level of the brainstem and nervous system, where primitive reflex patterns originate. Rather than focusing on symptoms alone, MNRI® supports the integration and maturation of reflexes such as Fear Paralysis, Moro, and Adult Startle.

Through specific, gentle neurosensorimotor techniques, MNRI® helps the nervous system:

• Reduce chronic activation of freeze and fight-or-flight responses
• Improve regulation of the stress response
• Support calmer, more adaptive startle reactions
• Increase the nervous system's sense of safety

As reflex integration improves, the auditory system becomes less reactive and more efficient. Sound is processed as information rather than danger, leading to improved sound tolerance, reduced auditory defensiveness, and greater emotional regulation during listening.