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Trumbull J, Lanier N, McMahon K, Guetta R, Rosenthal MZ. Using a standardized sound set to help characterize misophonia: The International Affective Digitized Sounds. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0301105. [PMID: 38776286 PMCID: PMC11111082 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0301105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2023] [Accepted: 03/08/2024] [Indexed: 05/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Misophonia is a condition characterized by negative affect, intolerance, and functional impairment in response to particular repetitive sounds usually made by others (e.g., chewing, sniffing, pen tapping) and associated stimuli. To date, researchers have largely studied misophonia using self-report measures. As the field is quickly expanding, assessment approaches need to advance to include more objective measures capable of differentiating those with and without misophonia. Although several studies have used sounds as experimental stimuli, few have used standardized stimuli sets with demonstrated reliability or validity. To conduct rigorous research in an effort to better understand misophonia, it is important to have an easily accessible, standardized set of acoustic stimuli for use across studies. Accordingly, in the present study, the International Affective Digitized Sounds (IADS-2), developed by Bradley and Lang (Bradley MM et al., 2007), were used to determine whether participants with misophonia responded to certain standardized sounds differently than a control group. Participants were 377 adults (132 participants with misophonia and 245 controls) recruited from an online platform to complete several questionnaires and respond to four probes (arousal, valence, similarity to personally-relevant aversive sounds, and sound avoidance) in response to normed pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral IADS-2 sounds. Findings indicated that compared to controls, participants with high misophonia symptoms rated pleasant and neutral sounds as significantly more (a) arousing and similar to trigger sounds in their everyday life, (b) unpleasant and (c) likely to be avoided in everyday life. For future scientific and clinical innovation, we include a ranked list of IADS-2 stimuli differentiating responses in those with and without misophonia, which we call the IADS-M.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Noah Lanier
- Duke University, Durham, NC, United States of America
| | - Katherine McMahon
- Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States of America
| | - Rachel Guetta
- Duke University, Durham, NC, United States of America
| | - M. Zachary Rosenthal
- Duke University, Durham, NC, United States of America
- Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States of America
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Hansen HA, Leber AB, Saygin ZM. The effect of misophonia on cognitive and social judgments. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0299698. [PMID: 38722993 PMCID: PMC11081244 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 05/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Misophonia, a heightened aversion to certain sounds, turns common cognitive and social exercises (e.g., paying attention during a lecture near a pen-clicking classmate, coexisting at the dinner table with a food-chomping relative) into challenging endeavors. How does exposure to triggering sounds impact cognitive and social judgments? We investigated this question in a sample of 65 participants (26 misophonia, 39 control) from the general population. In Phase 1, participants saw faces paired with auditory stimuli while completing a gender judgment task, then reported sound discomfort and identification. In Phase 2, participants saw these same faces with novel ones and reported face likeability and memory. For both oral and non-oral triggers, misophonic participants gave higher discomfort ratings than controls did-especially when identification was correct-and performed slower on the gender judgment. Misophonic participants rated lower likeability than controls did for faces they remembered with high discomfort sounds, and face memory was worse overall for faces originally paired with high discomfort sounds. Altogether, these results suggest that misophonic individuals show impairments on social and cognitive judgments if they must endure discomforting sounds. This experiment helps us better understand the day-to-day impact of misophonia and encourages usage of individualized triggers in future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heather A. Hansen
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States of America
| | - Andrew B. Leber
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States of America
| | - Zeynep M. Saygin
- Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States of America
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Ay E, Huviyetli M, Çakmak E. The mediating role of anxiety in the relationship between misophonia and quality of life: findings from the validated Turkish version of MisoQuest. Front Psychol 2024; 15:1361645. [PMID: 38689723 PMCID: PMC11058809 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1361645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/26/2023] [Accepted: 04/01/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Misophonia is a disorder characterized by decreased tolerance to certain sounds or their associated stimuli, and many measurement tools have been developed for its diagnosis and evaluation. The aims of the current study were to develop the Turkish version of MisoQuest, a fully validated misophonia questionnaire, to evaluate the relationships between misophonia, anxiety, and quality of life, and to examine the mediating role of anxiety in the relationship between misophonia and quality of life. Methods The reliability of the Turkish version of MisoQuest was conducted using data from 548 participants (Mean age = 28.06 ± 9.36). Then, the relationships between misophonia, anxiety, and quality of life were evaluated in a separate sample of 117 participants (Mean age = 25.50 ± 6.31) using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) and the Short Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire. Results The results showed that the Turkish version of MisoQuest has good psychometric properties. Close-to-moderate positive correlations were found between misophonia and anxiety, and weak negative correlations were found between misophonia and quality of life. Anxiety mediated the relationships between misophonia and quality of life. Discussion These results emphasize that misophonia may be an important problem affecting people's quality of life and reveal the mediating role of anxiety on this effect.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ezgi Ay
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Audiology, Baskent University, Ankara, Türkiye
- Department of Interdisciplinary Neuroscience, Ankara University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Ankara, Türkiye
| | - Mert Huviyetli
- Ear Institute, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Eda Çakmak
- Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Audiology, Baskent University, Ankara, Türkiye
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Brennan CR, Lindberg RR, Kim G, Castro AA, Khan RA, Berenbaum H, Husain FT. Misophonia and Hearing Comorbidities in a Collegiate Population. Ear Hear 2024; 45:390-399. [PMID: 37789522 DOI: 10.1097/aud.0000000000001435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/05/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Misophonia is a little-understood disorder in which certain sounds cause a strong emotional response in those who experience it. People who are affected by misophonia may find that noises like loud chewing, pen clicking, and/or sniffing trigger intense frustration, anger, or discomfort. The relationship of misophonia with other auditory disorders including loudness hyperacusis, tinnitus, and hearing loss is largely underexplored. This project aimed to investigate the prevalence and hearing-health comorbidities of misophonia in a college-aged population by using an online survey. DESIGN A total of 12,131 undergraduate and graduate students between the ages of 18 and 25 were given the opportunity to answer an in-depth online survey. These students were sampled in a roughly 50 of 50 sex distribution. The survey was created using Qualtrics and included the following components: electronic consent, demographics questionnaire, Misophonia Questionnaire (MQ), Khalfa's Hyperacusis Questionnaire (HQ), Tinnitus and Hearing Survey, and Tinnitus Functional Index (TFI). To be eligible for compensation, answers for each of the above components were required, with the exception of the TFI, which was only presented to students who indicated that they experienced tinnitus. Respondents were determined to have high or possible likelihood of having misophonia if they gave specific answers to the MQ's Emotion and Behavior Scale or the MQ Severity Scale. RESULTS After excluding duplicate responses and age-related outliers, 1,084 responses were included in the analysis. Just over 20% (n = 217) of the sample was determined to have a high or probable likelihood of having misophonia. The sample was primarily White, female, and of mid-to-high socioeconomic status. There was a strong positive correlation between MQ total scores and HQ total scores. High likelihood misophonia status showed a significant relationship with self-reported hearing loss and tinnitus. No statistically significant relationship was found between misophonia and age, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. MQ total scores differed significantly when separating respondents by sex, self-reported tinnitus, and loudness hyperacusis. White respondents had significantly higher MQ total scores than Asian/Asian American respondents. CONCLUSIONS The estimated prevalence of misophonia was about 8% to 20% of the sample, which agrees with most of the currently published research examining misophonia symptoms in collegiate populations. Results of data analysis suggest that misophonia severity may be related to loudness hyperacusis, sex, and possibly tinnitus. Future studies are needed to further examine the characteristics of these relationships, possibly in populations more optimized to reflect the general population or those with hearing-health disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline R Brennan
- Department of Speech and Hearing Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
- The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
| | - Ragnar R Lindberg
- Department of Speech and Hearing Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
- The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
| | - Gibbeum Kim
- Department of Speech and Hearing Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
- The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
| | - Ariana A Castro
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
| | - Rafay A Khan
- The Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
- The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
| | - Howard Berenbaum
- Department of Psychology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
| | - Fatima T Husain
- Department of Speech and Hearing Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
- The Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
- The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
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Norena A. Did Kant suffer from misophonia? Front Psychol 2024; 15:1242516. [PMID: 38420172 PMCID: PMC10899398 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1242516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2023] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Misophonia is a disorder of decreased tolerance to specific sounds, often produced by humans but not always, which can trigger intense emotional reactions (anger, disgust etc.). This relatively prevalent disorder can cause a reduction in the quality of life. The causes of misophonia are still unclear. In this article, we develop a hypothesis suggesting that misophonia can be caused by a failure in the organization of the perceived world. The perceived world is the result of both the structure of human thought and the many conditioning factors that punctuate human life, particularly social conditioning. It is made up of abstract symbols that map the world and help humans to orient himself in a potentially dangerous environment. In this context, the role of social rules acquired throughout life is considerable. Table manners, for example, are a set of deeply regulated and controlled behaviors (it's considered impolite to eat with the mouth open and to make noise while eating), which contribute to shape the way the perceived world is organized. So it's not surprising to find sounds from the mouth (chewing etc.) among the most common misophonic sound triggers. Politeness can be seen as an act of obedience to moral rules or courtesy, which is a prerequisite for peaceful social relations. Beyond this example, we also argue that any sound can become a misophonic trigger as long as it is not integrated into the perceived ordered and harmonious world, because it is considered an "anomaly," i.e., a disorder, an immorality or a vulgarity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arnaud Norena
- Centre de recherche en Psychologie et Neuroscience, UMR7077, Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, Marseille, France
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Carson TB, Qiu Y, Liang L, Medina AM, Ortiz A, Condon CA, Ryan N, Ambrosio J, Carcamo K, Miranda D, Palacio-Raine A. Development and validation of a paediatric version of the Khalfa Hyperacusis Questionnaire for children with and without autism. Int J Audiol 2023; 62:1187-1195. [PMID: 36053255 DOI: 10.1080/14992027.2022.2113827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2021] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Hyperacusis is reported to occur in 3.2-17.1% of the general paediatric population with higher rates in clinical populations such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Although hyperacusis is a relatively common form of decreased sound tolerance (DST), no valid paediatric hyperacusis measures are currently available. The purpose of the present study was to develop and validate a paediatric version of the Khalfa Hyperacusis Questionnaire (HQ) as a first step towards filling this measurement gap. DESIGN A cross-sectional design was used to evaluate therapist opinions of the paediatric version (P-HQ) and to field test the P-HQ in parents of children with and without ASD. Total scores were compared between ASD and non-ASD groups. STUDY SAMPLE Eleven paediatric occupational and speech therapists with expertise in ASD, 64 parents of children with ASD and 37 parents of children without ASD completed online questionnaires. Psychometric analyses were conducted. RESULTS A unidimensional construct was found underlying P-HQ and all items displayed sufficient theoretical relevance to hyperacusis and adequate psychometric properties. CONCLUSIONS The P-HQ demonstrates good internal consistency and shows promise as a potential screening tool for identifying DST in ASD. Further research is warranted to establish normative data and validate cut-off scores.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tana B Carson
- Department of Occupational Therapy, Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Yuxi Qiu
- Department of Department of Counseling, Recreation and School Psychology, College of Arts, Sciences and Education, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Lu Liang
- Department of Psychology, College of Arts, Sciences and Education, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Angela M Medina
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Annie Ortiz
- Department of Occupational Therapy, Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Courtney A Condon
- Department of Occupational Therapy, Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Nicaela Ryan
- Department of Occupational Therapy, Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Jenna Ambrosio
- Department of Occupational Therapy, Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Karina Carcamo
- Department of Occupational Therapy, Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Dana Miranda
- Department of Occupational Therapy, Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
| | - Alexandra Palacio-Raine
- Department of Occupational Therapy, Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing & Health Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
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Norena AJ. The Analogy between Tinnitus and Chronic Pain: A Phenomenological Approach. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1129. [PMID: 37626486 PMCID: PMC10452332 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13081129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2023] [Revised: 07/22/2023] [Accepted: 07/25/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Tinnitus is an auditory sensation without external acoustic stimulation or significance, which may be lived as an unpleasant experience and impact the subject's quality of life. Tinnitus loudness, which is generally low, bears no relation to distress. Factors other than psychoacoustic (such as psychological factors) are therefore implicated in the way tinnitus is experienced. The aim of this article is to attempt to understand how tinnitus can, like chronic pain, generate a 'crisis' in the process of existence, which may go as far as the collapse of the subject. The main idea put forward in the present article is that tinnitus may be compared to the phenomenon of pain from the point of view of the way it is experienced. Although the analogy between tinnitus and pain has often been made in the literature, it has been limited to a parallel concerning putative physiopathological mechanisms and has never really been explored in depth from the phenomenological point of view. Tinnitus is comparable to pain inasmuch as it is felt, not perceived: it springs up (without intention or exploration), abolishes the distance between the subject and the sensation (there is only a subject and no object), and has nothing to say about the world. Like pain, tinnitus is formless and abnormal and can alter the normal order of the world with maximum intensity. Finally, tinnitus and pain enclose the subject within the limits of the body, which then becomes in excess. Tinnitus may be a source of suffering, which affects not only the body but a person's very existence and, in particular, its deployment in time. Plans are thus abolished, so time is no longer 'secreted', it is enclosed in an eternal present. If the crisis triggered by tinnitus is not resolved, the subject may buckle and collapse (depression) when their resources for resisting are depleted. The path may be long and winding from the moment when tinnitus emerges to when it assaults existence and its eventual integration into a new existential norm where tinnitus is no longer a source of disturbance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arnaud J Norena
- Laboratoire de Neurosciences Sensorielles et Cognitives, CNRS, Aix-Marseille University, 13003 Marseille, France
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Aazh H. Commentary: Consensus definition of misophonia. Front Neurosci 2023; 16:1077097. [PMID: 36685217 PMCID: PMC9846162 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.1077097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/08/2022] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Hashir Aazh
- Audiology Department, Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, Guildford, United Kingdom,Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, United States,Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences (FEPS), University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom,Hashir International Specialist Clinics and Research Institute for Misophonia, Tinnitus and Hyperacusis, Guildford, United Kingdom,*Correspondence: Hashir Aazh ✉
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Heller LM, Smith JM. Identification of Everyday Sounds Affects Their Pleasantness. Front Psychol 2022; 13:894034. [PMID: 35936236 PMCID: PMC9347306 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.894034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2022] [Accepted: 06/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
This study examines the role of source identification in the emotional response to everyday sounds. Although it is widely acknowledged that sound identification modulates the unpleasantness of sounds, this assumption is based on sparse evidence on a select few sounds. We gathered more robust evidence by having listeners judge the causal properties of sounds, such as actions, materials, and causal agents. Participants also identified and rated the pleasantness of the sounds. We included sounds from a variety of emotional categories, such as Neutral, Misophonic, Unpleasant, and Pleasant. The Misophonic category consists of everyday sounds that are uniquely distressing to a subset of listeners who suffer from Misophonia. Sounds from different emotional categories were paired together based on similar causal properties. This enabled us to test the prediction that a sound’s pleasantness should increase or decrease if it is misheard as being in a more or less pleasant emotional category, respectively. Furthermore, we were able to induce more misidentifications by imposing spectral degradation in the form of envelope vocoding. Several instances of misidentification were obtained, all of which showed pleasantness changes that agreed with our predictions.
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Aazh H, Erfanian M, Danesh AA, Moore BCJ. Audiological and Other Factors Predicting the Presence of Misophonia Symptoms Among a Clinical Population Seeking Help for Tinnitus and/or Hyperacusis. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:900065. [PMID: 35864982 PMCID: PMC9294447 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.900065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2022] [Accepted: 06/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
This paper evaluates the proportion and the audiological and other characteristics of patients with symptoms of misophonia among a population seeking help for tinnitus and/or hyperacusis at an audiology clinic (n = 257). To assess such symptoms, patients were asked “over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by any of the following problems? Feeling angry or anxious when hearing certain sounds related to eating noises, lip-smacking, sniffling, breathing, clicking sounds, tapping?”. The results of routine audiological tests and self-report questionnaires were gathered retrospectively from the records of the patients. Measures included: pure tone audiometry, uncomfortable loudness levels (ULLs), and responses to the tinnitus impact questionnaire (TIQ), the hyperacusis impact questionnaire (HIQ), and the screening for anxiety and depression in tinnitus (SAD-T) questionnaire. The mean age of the patients was 53 years (SD = 16) (age range 17 to 97 years). Fifty four percent were female. Twenty-three percent of patients were classified as having misophonia. The presence and frequency of reporting misophonia symptoms were not related to audiometric thresholds, except that a steeply sloping audiogram reduced the likelihood of frequent misophonia symptoms. Those with more frequent misophonia symptoms had lower values of ULLmin (the across-frequency average of ULLs for the ear with lower average ULLs) than those with less frequent or no reported symptoms. The reported frequency of experiencing misophonia symptoms increased with increasing impact of tinnitus (TIQ score ≥9), increasing impact of hyperacusis (HIQ score >11), and symptoms of anxiety and depression (SAD-T score ≥4). It is concluded that, when assessing individuals with tinnitus and hyperacusis, it is important to screen for misophonia, particularly when ULLmin is abnormally low or the TIQ, HIQ or SAD-T score is high. This will help clinicians to distinguish patients with misophonia, guiding the choice of therapeutic strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hashir Aazh
- Audiology Department, Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, Guildford, United Kingdom
- Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, United States
- Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences (FEPS), University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom
- *Correspondence: Hashir Aazh,
| | - Mercede Erfanian
- UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering, The Bartlett, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Ali A. Danesh
- Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, United States
| | - Brian C. J. Moore
- Cambridge Hearing Group, Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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Ferrer-Torres A, Giménez-Llort L. Misophonia: A Systematic Review of Current and Future Trends in This Emerging Clinical Field. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022; 19:ijerph19116790. [PMID: 35682372 PMCID: PMC9180704 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19116790] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2022] [Revised: 05/27/2022] [Accepted: 05/28/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Misophonia is a scarcely known disorder. This systematic review (1) offers a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the literature since 2001, (2) identifies the most relevant aspects but also controversies, (3) identifies the theoretical and methodological approaches, and (4) highlights the outstanding advances until May 2022 as well as aspects that remain unknown and deserve future research efforts. Misophonia is characterized by strong physiological, emotional, and behavioral reactions to auditory, visual, and/or kinesthetic stimuli of different nature regardless of their physical characteristics. These misophonic responses include anger, general discomfort, disgust, anxiety, and avoidance and escape behaviors, and decrease the quality of life of the people with the disorder and their relatives. There is no consensus on the diagnostic criteria yet. High comorbidity between misophonia and other psychiatric and auditory disorders is reported. Importantly, the confusion with other disorders contributes to its underdiagnosis. In recent years, assessment systems with good psychometric properties have increased considerably, as have treatment proposals. Although misophonia is not yet included in international classification systems, it is an emerging field of growing scientific and clinical interest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonia Ferrer-Torres
- L’Alfatier-Centro Médico Psicológico, 08025 Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, School of Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain;
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +34-934-761-700
| | - Lydia Giménez-Llort
- Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine, School of Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain;
- Institut de Neurociències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
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Savard MA, Sares AG, Coffey EBJ, Deroche MLD. Specificity of Affective Responses in Misophonia Depends on Trigger Identification. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:879583. [PMID: 35692416 PMCID: PMC9179422 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.879583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Individuals with misophonia, a disorder involving extreme sound sensitivity, report significant anger, disgust, and anxiety in response to select but usually common sounds. While estimates of prevalence within certain populations such as college students have approached 20%, it is currently unknown what percentage of people experience misophonic responses to such “trigger” sounds. Furthermore, there is little understanding of the fundamental processes involved. In this study, we aimed to characterize the distribution of misophonic symptoms in a general population, as well as clarify whether the aversive emotional responses to trigger sounds are partly caused by acoustic salience of the sound itself, or by recognition of the sound. Using multi-talker babble as masking noise to decrease participants' ability to identify sounds, we assessed how identification of common trigger sounds related to subjective emotional responses in 300 adults who participated in an online study. Participants were asked to listen to and identify neutral, unpleasant and trigger sounds embedded in different levels of the masking noise (signal-to-noise ratios: −30, −20, −10, 0, +10 dB), and then to evaluate their subjective judgment of the sounds (pleasantness) and emotional reactions to them (anxiety, anger, and disgust). Using participants' scores on a scale quantifying misophonia sensitivity, we selected the top and bottom 20% scorers from the distribution to form a Most-Misophonic subgroup (N = 66) and Least-Misophonic subgroup (N = 68). Both groups were better at identifying triggers than unpleasant sounds, which themselves were identified better than neutral sounds. Both groups also recognized the aversiveness of the unpleasant and trigger sounds, yet for the Most-Misophonic group, there was a greater increase in subjective ratings of negative emotions once the sounds became identifiable, especially for trigger sounds. These results highlight the heightened salience of trigger sounds, but furthermore suggest that learning and higher-order evaluation of sounds play an important role in misophonia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie-Anick Savard
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Montreal, QC, Canada
- Centre for Research on Brain, Language, and Music (CRBLM), Montreal, QC, Canada
- *Correspondence: Marie-Anick Savard
| | - Anastasia G. Sares
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Montreal, QC, Canada
- Centre for Research on Brain, Language, and Music (CRBLM), Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Emily B. J. Coffey
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Montreal, QC, Canada
- Centre for Research on Brain, Language, and Music (CRBLM), Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Mickael L. D. Deroche
- Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada
- Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Montreal, QC, Canada
- Centre for Research on Brain, Language, and Music (CRBLM), Montreal, QC, Canada
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Bigras C, Villatte B, Duda V, Hébert S. The electrophysiological markers of hyperacusis: a scoping review. Int J Audiol 2022:1-11. [PMID: 35549972 DOI: 10.1080/14992027.2022.2070083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Hyperacusis is known as a reduced tolerance to sounds perceived as normal to the majority of the population. There is currently no agreed definition, diagnostic tool, or objective measure of its occurrence. The purpose of this review is to catalogue the research to date on the use of auditory evoked potentials (AEP) to assess hyperacusis. DESIGN A step-by-step methodology was conducted following guidelines. Four databases were searched. A total of 3343 papers were identified. A final yield of 35 articles were retained for analysis. RESULTS The analysis identified four types of aetiologies to describe the hyperacusic population in AEP studies; developmental disorders (n = 19), neurological disorders (n = 3), induced hearing damage (n = 8) and idiopathic aetiology (n = 5). Electrophysiological measures were of short (n = 16), middle (n = 13) and long (n = 19) latencies, believed to reflect the activity of the ascending and descending pathways of the auditory system from periphery to cortex. CONCLUSIONS The results of this review revealed the potential use of electrophysiological measures for further understanding the mechanisms of hyperacusis. However, according to the disparity of concepts to define hyperacusis, definitions and populations need to be clarified before biomarkers specific to hyperacusis can be identified.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte Bigras
- School of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada.,Center of Research on Brain, Language and Music (CRBLM), Montreal, Canada
| | - Bérangère Villatte
- School of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada.,Center of Research on Brain, Language and Music (CRBLM), Montreal, Canada
| | - Victoria Duda
- School of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada.,Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire en réadaptation (CRIR), Montreal, Canada
| | - Sylvie Hébert
- School of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Canada.,Center of Research on Brain, Language and Music (CRBLM), Montreal, Canada
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Dwyer P, Takarae Y, Zadeh I, Rivera SM, Saron CD. A Multidimensional Investigation of Sensory Processing in Autism: Parent- and Self-Report Questionnaires, Psychophysical Thresholds, and Event-Related Potentials in the Auditory and Somatosensory Modalities. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 16:811547. [PMID: 35620155 PMCID: PMC9127065 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.811547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Reconciling results obtained using different types of sensory measures is a challenge for autism sensory research. The present study used questionnaire, psychophysical, and neurophysiological measures to characterize autistic sensory processing in different measurement modalities. Methods Participants were 46 autistic and 21 typically developing 11- to 14-year-olds. Participants and their caregivers completed questionnaires regarding sensory experiences and behaviors. Auditory and somatosensory event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded as part of a multisensory ERP task. Auditory detection, tactile static detection, and tactile spatial resolution psychophysical thresholds were measured. Results Sensory questionnaires strongly differentiated between autistic and typically developing individuals, while little evidence of group differences was observed in psychophysical thresholds. Crucially, the different types of measures (neurophysiological, psychophysical, questionnaire) appeared to be largely independent of one another. However, we unexpectedly found autistic participants with larger auditory Tb ERP amplitudes had reduced hearing acuity, even though all participants had hearing acuity in the non-clinical range. Limitations The autistic and typically developing groups were not matched on cognitive ability, although this limitation does not affect our main analyses regarding convergence of measures within autism. Conclusion Overall, based on these results, measures in different sensory modalities appear to capture distinct aspects of sensory processing in autism, with relatively limited convergence between questionnaires and laboratory-based tasks. Generally, this might reflect the reality that laboratory tasks are often carried out in controlled environments without background stimuli to compete for attention, a context which may not closely resemble the busier and more complex environments in which autistic people's atypical sensory experiences commonly occur. Sensory questionnaires and more naturalistic laboratory tasks may be better suited to explore autistic people's real-world sensory challenges. Further research is needed to replicate and investigate the drivers of the unexpected association we observed between auditory Tb ERP amplitudes and hearing acuity, which could represent an important confound for ERP researchers to consider in their studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Dwyer
- Neurocognitive Development Lab, Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- MIND Institute, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Yukari Takarae
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States
- Department of Psychology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, United States
| | - Iman Zadeh
- Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, Oracle Corporation, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Susan M. Rivera
- Neurocognitive Development Lab, Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- MIND Institute, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Clifford D. Saron
- MIND Institute, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- Saron Lab, Center for Mind and Brain, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
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Norris JE, Kimball SH, Nemri DC, Ethridge LE. Toward a Multidimensional Understanding of Misophonia Using Cluster-Based Phenotyping. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:832516. [PMID: 35418830 PMCID: PMC8995706 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.832516] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2021] [Accepted: 03/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Misophonia is a condition characterized by hypersensitivity and strong emotional reactivity to specific auditory stimuli. Misophonia clinical presentations are relatively complex and reflect individualized experiences across clinical populations. Like some overlapping neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders, misophonia is potentially syndromic where symptom patterns rather than any one symptom contribute to diagnosis. The current study conducted an exploratory k-means cluster analysis to evaluate symptom presentation in a non-clinical sample of young adult undergraduate students (N = 343). Individuals participated in a self-report spectrum characteristics survey indexing misophonia, tinnitus severity, sensory hypersensitivity, and social and psychiatric symptoms. Results supported a three-cluster solution that split participants on symptom presentation: cluster 1 presented with more severe misophonia symptoms but few overlapping formally diagnosed psychiatric co-occurring conditions; cluster 3 was characterized by a more nuanced clinical presentation of misophonia with broad-band sensory hypersensitivities, tinnitus, and increased incidence of social processing and psychiatric symptoms, and cluster 2 was relatively unaffected by misophonia or other sensitivities. Clustering results illustrate the spectrum characteristics of misophonia where symptom patterns range from more “pure” form misophonia to presentations that involve more broad-range sensory-related and psychiatric symptoms. Subgroups of individuals with misophonia may characterize differential neuropsychiatric risk patterns and stem from potentially different causative factors, highlighting the importance of exploring misophonia as a multidimensional condition of complex etiology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan E. Norris
- Department of Psychology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, United States
| | - Suzanne H. Kimball
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
| | - Danna C. Nemri
- Department of Psychology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, United States
| | - Lauren E. Ethridge
- Department of Psychology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, United States
- Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, United States
- *Correspondence: Lauren E. Ethridge,
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