Why do some people get annoyed even by the slightest noise?

Nobody likes to listen, as people around chew their food with their mouth open. But in most cases, chomping sounds irritate only very hungry people. To all the rest, the chewing neighbor gives insignificant discomfort.

What is misofony?

However, there are people who are enraged by any noise. They experience not just annoyance, but real aversion to sounds. Misophonia, or selective sound sensitivity, is a neurological disorder caused by negative experiences experienced. So, after hearing the cry of a baby or the noise of an open water tap, a person instantly begins to experience a deep painful sense of discomfort, anger and fury. Even the most usual sounds can make the situation extremely tense. We are talking about breathing, chewing or cracking your fingers - here they are, the usual triggers of misofony.

Factor responsible for the disorder

According to early studies in this field, scientists have classified selective sound sensitivity for both obsessive-compulsive disorder and one of the character traits. However, according to new scientific data, past attempts to explain misofony can be wrong. The true culprit of this phenomenon can be a special brain structure.

Progress of the experiment

For the study, scientists led by Sukhbinder Kumar, a neurologist at the University of Newcastle, selected 42 volunteers. Approximately half of the subjects had a strong form of misofony, the remaining participants formed a control group. During the experiment, volunteers had to put up with various noises, including neutral ones, for example, with a human cry or breathing. In parallel, the researchers documented the symptoms of distress, both physical and behavioral. Brain activity was measured using a magnetic resonance imaging device.

conclusions

Between the two groups of subjects, the only significant difference in the response to noise was found. So, the neutral sound of breathing did not cause any response in the brains of participants from the control group, but produced changes in the brain of individuals suffering from selective sound sensitivity. This did not cause surprise in the ranks of researchers, since breathing is a known trigger of misofony. As a result, physical changes in the behavior of the subjects were detected, and a curious reaction of the brain was recorded.

Brain reaction

Sounds intensified the response in the anterior islet cortex, a zone that plays a significant role when we talk about the spread of attention. When trigger sounds were triggered for the main group of volunteers, the anterior islet cortex not only showed great activity, but also showed abnormally high levels of connection to other brain regions. The anterior islet is connected with the departments that are responsible for the regulation of emotions, memory and memories.

The result of excessive attention

In other words, misofony can be the result of inappropriate, excessive attention. The brain of a person deliberately focuses on things that other people do. This concentration and causes a more emotional reaction in the focal points.