When I was in nursing school, we took our tests at desks lined up in neat rows, arranged alphabetically. To my dismay, the guy who sat behind me had insufferable allergies – every breath he took sounded like a drooling slurp followed by a sputter. Inhale, exhale, slurp, sputter.
I wouldn’t have minded so much except that at exam time, his continual clamor accentuated the silence as we made marks with our pencils. I felt like I was undergoing a slow form of torture. In desperation, I plugged my ears with my fingers to concentrate on each question.
(Which worked. I passed!)
Do You Have a Supersensitized Brain?
If you can relate to this story or have experienced other sounds that drive you up the wall (nails screeching across a blackboard?), you might have a ‘supersensitized’ brain. That’s a neural connection that has been identified in people who suffer a negative reaction to certain trigger sounds.
In extreme circumstances, sufferers feel disgust and even rage when exposed to certain noises. That reaction is a real condition called misophonia, meaning hatred of sound. Now, researchers at Newcastle University in England have discovered that people who have such a condition have an abnormal communication between the auditory and motor brain regions such as the face, mouth and throat.
According to the lead researcher, this is the first time that such a connection in the brain has been identified. The study was published in the Journal of Neuroscience, May 21, 2021.
The Most Hated Sounds
People with misophonia experience intense and involuntary reactions to particular sounds made by others. Common trigger sounds are usually related to mouth, throat or facial activity – such as chewing, breathing or speaking. Reactions vary in range but they can be acute, including anger, fight-or-flight response or a desire to hurt the person making the noise!
Any of these common culprit sounds push your buttons?
snoring
wheezing
nose whistling and sniffling
talking with food in one's mouth
teeth grinding
loud throat clearing
slurping
chewing with one’s mouth open
Misophonia sufferers may feel that sounds from others are intruding into their bodies and that they have no control over their reactions. In severe cases, sufferers find aspects of family life (such as sitting around the dinner table) difficult to bear.
The study provides support for why sounds provoke such responses since they are caused by brain activity invoked by particular sounds. The condition is fairly common, affecting up to 20 percent of the population.
Is There a Cure or Medication for Misophonia?
No medicine or “cure” is available for this condition but there are approaches that seems to work, including tinnitus retraining therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) involves teaching people with misophonia how to improve their ability to tolerate certain noises. Cognitive behavioral therapy involves changing the negative thoughts that may contribute to the patient's suffering.
Another treatment involves adding background noise to the person's environment in an effort to help them ignore their triggers for negative reactions. Fans and "white noise" machines are examples. As a sensitive listener myself, I don’t travel anywhere without ear plugs and a portable clip-fan.
Guess mom was right with her advice - stop smacking and chew with your mouth closed!
You can find the study here:
https://www.jneurosci.org/content/early/2021/05/20/JNEUROSCI.0261-21.2021