![What Is “Brain Flossing,” and Does It Have Anything to Do With Neurodiversity?](https://mdeik.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Mental-Health-2023-55slc1j10up.jpg)
What Is “Brain Flossing,” and Does It Have Anything to Do With Neurodiversity?
One of the beautiful things about TikTok is that within the hundreds of millions of active users, you can find little communities that seem to speak directly to you. The mental health community in particular has been using the platform to share relatable stories, talk about personal experiences, spread awareness, and provide affirming support. TikTok has even helped some people discover potential diagnoses, bringing light to the different ways conditions can present in daily life.
One new mental-health-adjacent trend circulating TikTok right now is being called “brain flossing,” and it centers on 8D audio. This type of audio creates the sensation that sounds are moving around you in space. While 8D audio can be stimulating to anyone, TikTokers are claiming that neurodivergent folks may experience it differently than people with neurotypical brains. As such, some users are suggesting that this could even clue you in to the possibility of whether or not you’re neurodivergent yourself.
It brings up a lot of questions: What, exactly, is brain flossing? Why does 8D audio feel the way it does? And can it clue you in on potential neurodivergence of your own? Here’s the rundown.
A Word on Neurodiversity and Neurodivergence
“Neurodiversity describes the idea that people experience and interact with the world around them in many different ways; there is no one ‘right’ way of thinking, learning, and behaving, and differences are not viewed as deficits,” according to a Harvard Health Publishing article from neurologists Nicole Baumer, MD, MEd, and Julia Frueh, MD. Neurodiversity encompasses the limitless variability in the ways people and their brains can exist and function.
Meanwhile, “neurodivergent” describes a type of brain that’s simply “different than the ‘norm,'” says Sharon Kaye-O’Connor, LCSW, a psychotherapist who specializes in neurodiversity. “Neurodivergent identities and conditions include autism, ADHD, dyslexia, OCD, apraxia, dyspraxia, Tourette’s, and others.” That said, the term “neurodivergent” is quite broad and can apply to people even outside these specific diagnoses who feel their brain works differently than others.