If you can’t stand the sound of people chewing or leaky headphones, there could be a neurological explanation. Until now, the condition misophonia was considered the result of a short temper or heightened levels of anxiety, but researchers from Newcastle University believe they have found an underlying, physiological cause.
Misophonia causes sufferers to have increased sensitivity to certain sounds. This can result in moderate discomfort to intense feelings of panic and anger. While these responses aren’t caused by every sound – only those that fall within a unique ‘trigger set’ for each sufferer – living with misophonia can cause difficulties. Noisy eaters, a baby crying, or even overly-loud breathing can cause frustration for those with misophonia; relationships suffer and some people struggle to work in loud environments.
Despite knowing a vast amount about its effects, the cause of misophonia had alluded professionals. Now, a study conducted by Dr Sukhbinder Kumar at the university in association with the Wellcome Centre for NeuroImaging at University College London, has found a clinical cause using magnetic resonance imaging. The results of the study show that people with misophonia have an abnormality in the emotional control mechanism of the brain – between the frontal lobe and the anterior insular cortex (AIC) – causing them to react very strongly to specific noises.
The function of the AIC is to process emotions and regulate our responses to various stimuli. During tests, subjects with misophonia experienced heightened activity in both the frontal lobe and AIC, whereas patients without the disorder experienced an increase in AIC activity, but a decrease in the frontal lobe activity. Researchers speculate this could suggest an abnormal control mechanism between these two areas, and the difference in connectivity patterns proves misophonia, far from being a ‘pet peeve’, is a genuine medical condition.
Tim Griffiths, Professor of Cognitive Neurology at Newcastle University and UCL, doubted the validity of the condition until seeing evidence of the condition first-hand.
“I hope this will reassure sufferers,” he said, “I was part of the sceptical community myself until we saw patients in the clinic and understood how strikingly similar the features are.”
One such sufferer, Olana Tansley-Hancock, 29, from Ashford in Kent, first began experiencing symptoms at the age of eight. While misophonia was not recognised at that time, her level of sensitivity to particular noises was symptomatic of the condition.
“I can only describe it as a feeling of wanting to punch people in the face when I heard the noise of them eating – and anyone who knows me will say that doesn’t sound like me,” she said. Upon going to see her GP with her symptoms, he “laughed at [her].”
The research published today gives sufferers like Tansley-Hancock tangible evidence that the condition is clinical, even though it is not yet recognised in clinical diagnostic schemes.
In light of this discovery, treatment options for the disorder can now be evaluated. Dr. Sukhbinder Kumar believes these findings could be used for therapeutic treatment techniques for the condition.
“My hope is to identify the brain signature of the trigger sounds – those signatures can be used for treatment such as for neuro-feedback,” he says, “… where people can self-regulate their reactions by looking at what kind of brain activity is being produced.”
