Alterations in attentional processing in youth with misophonia: A phenotypical cross-comparison with anxiety patients

BACKGROUND

Misophonia is a complex condition characterized by extreme emotional distress in response to specific sounds or specific visual stimuli. Despite a growing body of clinical and neuroscientific literature, the etiology of this condition remains unclear. Hyperarousal, that is, a state of heightened alertness and disinhibition, as a core feature of misophonia is supported by behavioral and neuroimaging literature and might represent a viable clinical target for the development of both behavioral and pharmacological interventions. The aim of this study was to investigate how hyperarousal might be linked to neurocognitive processes associated with vigilance and stimulus discrimination in youth with misophonia.

METHODS

We compared 72 children and adolescents with misophonia (13.74 ± 2.44 years) (64 % female) and 89 children and adolescents with anxiety (12.35 ± 2.57 years) (58.4 % female) on behavioral and signal detection performance of the immediate memory task (IMT). Anxiety patients were used as a clinical control group to distinguish attentional processes specific for misophonia.

RESULTS

Both groups demonstrated similar behavioral performance, including response rate and reaction time. However, misophonia was associated with elevated stimulus discrimination (d prime), which in turn was positively correlated with the severity of misophonia trigger reports.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings are in line with previous cognitive and neuroimaging studies, and support an arousal-based model of misophonia, where individuals with misophonia experience a state of heightened vigilance, being more aware of stimuli in the environment. Our findings provide a neurocognitive basis for future study of neurochemical imaging that might further progress towards clinical targets.

Recalled protective childhood experiences are associated with positive emotional expression in active-duty firefighters

There is a wealth of research linking adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) with negative outcomes later in life, but less research has focused on the effects of protective childhood experiences (PCEs). PCEs have been shown broadly to promote resilience, but the precise nature of this association is not clear, particularly in studies of at-risk adults. The current investigation explored the association between recollection of early life experiences and in vivo emotional responses in at-risk adults. In 2018, 56 active-duty firefighters reported childhood experiences via a questionnaire. Using a semistructured interview, firefighters then responded to questions about recent emotionally evocative experiences (positive and negative) as a firefighter. Emotion was measured in vivo via sympathetic arousal and recorded facial expressions of emotion. Individuals who reported more PCEs expressed significantly more facial expressions of positive emotion across contexts, sr2 = .11-.14. Early childhood experiences were not significantly associated with negative facial expressions or changes in sympathetic reactivity, but ACEs were associated with tonic levels of arousal in a negative context, r = -.36. Given the adaptive role of positive emotions in adjustment to adverse events, the current investigation suggests a potential protective association between PCEs and the expression of emotion even within a high-risk context, which could help explain the resilience promoting role of PCEs.

Understanding Emotion Inflexibility in Risk for Affective Disease: Integrating Current Research and Finding a Path Forward

Emotion-related disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety, stress, eating, substance and some personality disorders) include some of the most common, burdensome, and costly diseases worldwide. Central to many, if not all of these disorders, may be patterns of rigid or inflexible emotion responses. Indeed, theorists point to emotion in-flexibility as a potential cause or maintaining factor in emotion-related diseases. Despite the increasing prominence of emotion inflexibility in theories of affective disease, a comprehensive review of the developing empirical literature has not yet been conducted. Accordingly, this review will examine the three dominant lines of inquiry assessing emotion flexibility. These include: (1) the capacity to use and vary deliberate emotion regulation strategies, (2) the context sensitivity of spontaneous emotional responses, and (3) flexibility in the appraisal of emotional events and experiences. Moreover, current evidence suggests that each of these three lines of research may converge to suggest the interplay of two key biological dimensions in emotion inflexibility, threat sensitivity, and cognitive control, known to be impaired in patients with affective disorders. In short, this developing body of work suggests a path by which future research could explicate and even exploit the ties between emotion inflexibility and affective disease, contributing to the development of improved models of risk, assessment, and intervention, with broad implications for psychological health.