You should bla.m.e your brain rather than your illogical desire for silence if the sound of noisy chewing, pen clicking, or knuckle cracking is enough to make you lose your mind.
Researchers from Newcastle University in the UK discovered that those who suffer from misophonia, a disorder in which they detest particular noises, really experience an overreaction to these stimuli.
44 volunteers, about half of whom had misophonia, had their brains examined as they listened to a variety of sounds: trigger (eating or breathing), unpleasant (crying or shouting), and neutral (rain or boiling water).
Those whose friends and relatives don’t think their dislike of particular noises is more than simply a bother might be relieved by this discovery.
This study finds the critical brain changes as further evidence to convince a skeptical medical community that this is a genuine disorder.
“For the first time, we have shown a difference in brain structure and function in sufferers, which will be welcome news for many people with misophonia,” said Dr. Sukhbinder Kumar, the research’s lead.
