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Purpose: Misophonia is a disorder characterized by decreased tolerance to specific sound stimuli. The main aim of our study is to investigate the prevalence of misophonia and its nature among Amity University students in India. Materials and Methods: A cross‑sectional design study was conducted among Amity University students via the online survey. A revised version of the Amsterdam Misophonia Scale was distributed among university students. SPSS software version 25.0 was used for the statistical analysis. Descriptive statistics and a Chi‑square test were done to see the association among variables. Results: The data were collected from 607 university students. Our study showed the prevalence of clinically significant misophonia to be 17.63% among university students. The result showed that the sounds produced by the human mouth, such as chewing and swallowing, are the most common triggers for misophonia. The Chi‑square test result showed a significant association between gender, family history, and occurrence of misophonia. Conclusion: Our study concludes that misophonia is a highly prevalent disorder in the Indian population which could significantly impact the sufferers’ quality of life. The assessment protocol and treatment approaches available for misophonia and its efficacy are relatively unclear. Our study’s findings may be the guiding tool to develop better assessment and management protocols for helping individuals suffering from misophonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Misophonia is characterized by decreased tolerance for and negative reactions to certain sounds and associated stimuli, which contribute to impairment and distress. Research has found that misophonia is common in clinical, college, and online samples; yet, fewer studies have examined rates of misophonia in population-based samples. The current study addresses limitations of prior research by investigating misophonia prevalence, phenomenology, and impairment in a large, nationally representative sample of adults in the United States. Probability-based sampling was used to administer a survey to a representative sample of U.S. households. Data were adjusted with poststratification weights to account for potential sampling biases and examined as weighted proportions to estimate the outcomes. The sample included 4,005 participants (51.5% female; 62.5% White). Sensitivity to misophonia sounds was reported by 78.5% of the sample, and 4.6% reported clinical levels of misophonia. Results demonstrated significant demographic differences in misophonia symptom severity. Specifically, significantly higher misophonia symptoms were observed for participants who identified as female, less than 55 years old, less than a high school education, never married, lower income, and those working part time, compared to each of the respective comparison groups. Those with clinically significant misophonia symptoms reported that symptoms often onset in childhood and adolescence, were persistent, and contributed to severe impairment in at least one life domain. These findings provide a prevalence estimate of misophonia in the general population of the United States and inform our understanding of who is affected by misophonia. General Scientific Summary: Misophonia affects 4.6% of individuals in the United States. This study found that misophonia symptoms are higher among individuals who identify as female, less than 55 years old, less than a high school education, never married, lower income, and those working part time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Misophonic experiences are common in the general population, and they may shed light on everyday emotional reactions to multi-modal stimuli. We performed an online study of a non-clinical sample to understand the extent to which adults who have misophonic reactions are generally reactive to a range of audio-visual emotion-inducing stimuli. We also hypothesized that musicality might be predictive of one's emotional reactions to these stimuli because music is an activity that involves strong connections between sensory processing and meaningful emotional experiences. Participants completed self-report scales of misophonia and musicality. They also watched videos meant to induce misophonia, autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) and musical chills, and were asked to click a button whenever they had any emotional reaction to the video. They also rated the emotional valence and arousal of each video. Reactions to misophonia videos were predicted by reactions to ASMR and chills videos, which could indicate that the frequency with which individuals experience emotional responses varies similarly across both negative and positive emotional contexts. Musicality scores were not correlated with measures of misophonia. These findings could reflect a general phenotype of stronger emotional reactivity to meaningful sensory inputs. This article is part of the theme issue 'Sensing and feeling: an integrative approach to sensory processing and emotional experience'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tinnitus and misophonia are important "sound annoyance" disorders in pediatric otolaryngology and audiology practices. There is scant published literature to suggest increased anxiety and depression symptoms in these disorders. This study aimed at assessing the clinical characteristics of these 2 disorders and their prevalence in mental health–related symptoms in a 2-year retrospective chart review of a multi-disciplinary (otolaryngology, audiology, and psychology) clinic cohort. Analyses were based on 54 (tinnitus = 33 and misophonia = 21) children consisting of 19 males and 35 females with a mean age (standard deviation) of 14.3 (3.0) years. The entire cohort was negatively affected by diagnosis-based symptom severity instruments as assessed by Tinnitus Functional Index and Amsterdam Misophonia Scale. Both subgroups exhibited elevated anxiety and depression symptoms in psychometric instruments as assessed by Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders and Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire. Evidence-based management of these disorders is lacking, and clinical trials are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Misophonia is commonly classified by intense emotional reactions to common everyday sounds. The condition has an impact both on the mental health of its sufferers and societally. As yet, formal models on the basis of misophonia are in their infancy. Based on developing behavioural and neuroscientific research we are gaining a growing understanding of the phenomenology and empirical findings in misophonia, such as the importance of context, types of coping strategies used and the activation of particular brain regions. In this article, we argue for a model of misophonia that includes not only the sound but also the context within which sound is perceived and the emotional reaction triggered. We review the current behavioural and neuroimaging literature, which lends support to this idea. Based on the current evidence, we propose that misophonia should be understood within the broader context of social perception and cognition, and not restricted within the narrow domain of being a disorder of auditory processing. We discuss the evidence in support of this hypothesis, as well as the implications for potential treatment approaches. This article is part of the theme issue 'Sensing and feeling: an integrative approach to sensory processing and emotional experience'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Misophonia is a condition in which everyday sounds evoke pain and reactive aversion. The etiology of misophonia is largely unknown, with discordant conceptualizations of its roots, ranging from psychiatric, to neurological, to a combination of auditory processing and neurobiological dysfunction. Common protocols are focused on symptom reduction and management, though have not been proven to be clinically effective. For these reasons, it is generally considered to be difficult to treat. In this paper, I re-consider misophonia as a complex interweaving of auditory, neurobiological and relational experience. Reflecting upon a clinical case, I present misophonia in the context of self-with-other regulation from a developmental lens, traverse the landscape of misophonic self states, explore the complex toll of dissociation and intergenerational trauma in relational space, and consider ways in which the painful somatic-auditory bell of misophonia concretizes self and relational "hope" and "dread". Finally, I will offer some thoughts on how psychoanalytic psychotherapy can create new relational-neurobiological pathways out of the misophonic experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Misophonia is a disorder characterized by emotional and physiological responses that occur in response to certain auditory stimuli. Visual, tactile, and olfactory stimuli, primarily oral and nasal sounds such as eating, nose, and respiratory sounds, reveal misophonic responses. People with misophonia may have difficulty in social interactions, and work or school performance may be adversely affected. Misophonia symptoms can also cause anxiety, depression, and other mental health problems. Physiological reactions in the body, such as pain, sweating, tachycardia, hot flashes, and breathing difficulties, negatively affect people's physical health. For this reason, people's physical and mental health and quality of life are significantly affected. The absence of agreed diagnostic criteria for the diagnosis of misophonia and the lack of sufficient data to classify it as a psychiatric disorder has led to the lack of validated treatment guidelines. However, there are treatment recommendations discussed in the literature for misophonia, which has a prevalence of 20% in a limited number of studies and negatively affects the functionality of the individual. In the management of misophonia, tinnitus re-education therapy (TRT) was used as audiological treatment, antidepressants, and anxiolytics were used as pharmacological treatment and cognitive behavioral therapies were used as therapy. Other suggested treatment recommendations are neural remodeling technique, sequential remodeling hypnotherapy, trauma prevention technique, and trauma and tension reduction exercises. This review aims to present the treatment approaches available in the literature together and to understand the need for experimental evidence for treatment methods.

Introduction: Misophonia, not yet classified within diagnostic manuals, triggers strong emotional, physiological, and behavioural reactions to specific sounds. This study examines its correlations with attention deficient/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) traits, obsessive-compulsive traits, and autism-related traits in adolescent outpatients with non-psychotic disorders. We hypothesize a positive association between misophonic symptoms and these psychological traits. Methods: This study was conducted at a Turkish psychiatric centre from January to July 2023 in adolescents aged 12-18. Parents completed the Autism Spectrum Quotient-Adolescent (AQ-Adolescent), and Conner's ADHD Parent Rating Scale-48 (CPRS-48), while the adolescent filled out the Misophonic Symptom Checklist (MCL) and Maudsley Obsessive- Compulsive Inventory (MOCI). Using non-parametric statistical tests, the research found associations between the scales, with a total sample size of 348. Results: Females had higher scores on MCL. There is a negative correlation between AQ-Adolescent and MCL, positive correlations between MCL-MOCI and MCL-CPRS-48. In gender specific correlation analysis found that AQ-Adolescent and MCL were negatively correlated, MCL and MOCI were positively correlated in males. MCL, CPRS-48 and MOCI were positively correlated in females. In regression AQ-Adolescent, MOCI and CPRS-48 significantly predicted the levels of MCL. Conclusions: Our study unveils a link between ADHD, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, autistic traits, and misophonic symptoms in adolescent psychiatric outpatients, highlighting sex differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Misophonia is a chronic condition in which the exposure to specific sounds increases the arousal and recurrence of specific intense negative emotions. We hypothesized that misophonia may be strongly related to maladaptive interpersonal schemas that create difficulties in interpersonal relationships. Subjects with maladaptive interpersonal schemas think that other people try to subjugate, criticize, dominate, exploit, deceive, disregard, and humiliate them. Furthermore, these patients typically endorse a representation of self as mistreated, constricted, harmed, damaged, humiliated, impotent, inadequate, or fragile. Methods: We describe the course of a treatment of Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy (MIT) in a young man presenting misophonia and co-occurrent obsessive–compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) and avoidant personality disorder (AvPD), with narcissistic traits and normal hearing. We collected qualitative and quantitative data at the beginning of the intervention and at 2 years follow-up. Results: The therapy aimed at increasing awareness of maladaptive interpersonal schemas and promoting a healthy self. The results reported a significant decrease in misophonia; behavioural experiments were used to increase the quality of social relationships and tolerance to the trigger sounds. Conclusions: MIT can be an effective therapy for the treatment of misophonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Misophonia is a psychiatric condition characterized by strong emotional and/or behavioral responses to auditory stimuli, leading to distress and functional impairment. Despite previous attempts to define and categorize this condition, misophonia is not currently included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or International Classification of Diseases. The lack of formal diagnostic consensus presents challenges for research aimed at assessing and treating this clinical presentation. Methods: The current study presents clinical characteristics of youth (N = 47) with misophonia in the largest treatment‐seeking sample to date. We examined demographic characteristics of the sample, frequency of comorbid disorders, frequency of specific misophonia symptoms (i.e., triggers, emotional and behavioral responses, and impairments), and caregiver‐child symptom agreement. Misophonia symptoms were evaluated using a multimodal assessment including clinician, youth, and caregiver reports on empirically established misophonia measures, and concordance among measures was assessed. Results: Youth seeking treatment for misophonia presented with marked misophonia symptoms and an array of comorbid conditions. Youth and caregivers identified various triggers of misophonia symptoms (e.g., chewing sounds, breathing sounds), as well as a wide range of emotional (e.g., anger, annoyance, disgust) and behavioral (e.g., aggression, avoidance) responses to triggers. Youth and caregivers exhibited high agreement on misophonia triggers but lower agreement on symptom severity and associated impairment. Compared to younger children (aged 8−13), older children (aged 14+) appeared to report symptom severity and associated impairment more reliably. Conclusion: Misophonia is a heterogenous and impairing clinical condition that warrants future investigation and evidence‐based treatment development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Family accommodation has not been explored in youth with misophonia. • Accommodation was common and more frequent in anxious youth. • Family accommodation directly predicted misophonia severity. • Accommodation may be an important intervention target. Family accommodation (e.g., reassurance, modifying routines, assisting avoidance) has not been explored among youth with misophonia but may have important clinical and intervention implications. We examined family accommodation in 102 children and adolescents with interview-confirmed misophonia and compared its frequency and content to family accommodation in 95 children and adolescents with anxiety disorders. Findings showed that family accommodation was ubiquitous in pediatric misophonia and may be even more frequent than in youth with anxiety disorders. Assisting the child, participating in misophonia-related behaviors, and modifying family routines were endorsed by more than 70% of parents of children with misophonia. Further, compared to parents of children with anxiety disorders, parents of children with misophonia more frequently reported child distress and anger when they did not accommodate. Family accommodation was moderately to strongly associated with misophonia severity even when accounting for co-occurring internalizing and externalizing symptoms and sociodemographic factors. This first study of family accommodation in pediatric misophonia suggests accommodation may be an important clinical feature. A notable study limitation is that the measure of misophonia did not delineate between adaptive versus maladaptive accommodations. Excessive and maladaptive accommodation may be one potential candidate to target in interventions when considered within a broader treatment plan. Importantly, adaptive accommodations should also be considered in day-to-day management if they improve functioning and quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Misophonia has gained attention in scientific circles that utilise brain imaging to validate diagnoses. The condition is promoted as not merely a symptom of other psychiatric diagnoses but as a discrete clinical entity. We illustrate the social construction of the diagnostic category of misophonia through examining prominent claims in research studies that use brain imaging to substantiate the diagnosis. We show that brain images are insufficient to establish the 'brain basis for misophonia' due to both technical and logical limitations of imaging data. Often misunderstood as providing direct access to the matter of the body, brain images are mediated and manipulated numerical data (Joyce, 2005, Social Studies of Science 35(3), p. 437). Interpretations of brain scans are further shaped by social expectations and attributes considered salient to the data. Causal inferences drawn from these studies are problematic because 'misophonics' are clinically pre‐diagnosed before participating. We argue that imaging cannot replace the social process of diagnosis in the case of misophonia, nor validate diagnostic measures or otherwise substantiate the condition. More broadly, we highlight both the cultural authority and inherent limitations of brain imaging in the social construction of contested diagnoses while also illustrating its role in the disaggregation of symptoms into new diagnoses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionMisophonia 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.MethodsThe 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.ResultsThe 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.DiscussionThese 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.

Misophonia is a neurophysiological disorder with behavioral implications, is complex and multifactorial in origin, and is characterized by an atypical and disproportionate emotional response to specific sounds or associated visual stimuli. Triggers include human-generated sounds, mainly sounds related to feeding and breathing processes, and repetitive mechanical sounds. In response to the triggering stimulus, the patient experiences immediate, high-intensity, disproportionate physical and emotional reactions that affect their quality of life and social functioning. The symptoms of misophonia can occur at any age, but onset in childhood or adolescence is most common. Affected children live in a constant state of anxiety, suffer continuous physical and emotional discomfort, and are thus exposed to significant chronic stress. Chronic stress, especially during childhood, has consequences on the main biological systems through the dysregulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, including the gastrointestinal tract. Here, we provide arguments for a positive correlation between misophonic pathology and gastrointestinal symptoms, and this hypothesis may be the starting point for further longitudinal studies that could investigate the correlations between these childhood vulnerabilities caused by misophonia and their effect on the gastrointestinal system. Further research to study this hypothesis is essential to ensure correct and timely diagnosis and optimal psychological and pharmacological support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Misophonia is a chronic condition in which the exposure to specific sounds increases the arousal and recurrence of specific intense negative emotions. We hypothesized that misophonia may be strongly related to maladaptive interpersonal schemas that create difficulties in interpersonal relationships. Subjects with maladaptive interpersonal schemas think that other people try to subjugate, criticize, dominate, exploit, deceive, disregard, and humiliate them. Furthermore, these patients typically endorse a representation of self as mistreated, constricted, harmed, damaged, humiliated, impotent, inadequate, or fragile. Methods: We describe the course of a treatment of Metacognitive Interpersonal Therapy (MIT) in a young man presenting misophonia and co-occurrent obsessive–compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) and avoidant personality disorder (AvPD), with narcissistic traits and normal hearing. We collected qualitative and quantitative data at the beginning of the intervention and at 2 years follow-up. Results: The therapy aimed at increasing awareness of maladaptive interpersonal schemas and promoting a healthy self. The results reported a significant decrease in misophonia; behavioural experiments were used to increase the quality of social relationships and tolerance to the trigger sounds. Conclusions: MIT can be an effective therapy for the treatment of misophonia.

To perform a psychometric validation of a Norwegian version of the Misophonia Questionnaire (MQ-NOR) and to test the link between the personality trait neuroticism and misophonia assessed with the MQ-NOR. Participants completed online versions of the MQ-NOR on two occasions about two weeks apart and the neuroticism scale from BFI-20. Two-hundred and twenty-seven (T1) and 173 (T2) participants with self-reported misophonia. The MQ-NOR was found to comprise two factors: Symptom Scale and Emotions and Behaviours Scale. Overall, the MQ-NOR evidenced good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Regression analyses supported a positive relationship between misophonia and neuroticism that was moderated by participant age, but not gender. The MQ-NOR demonstrates good psychometric properties, but until more extensively validated, it is cautiously recommended for use by clinicians in Norway to assessing misophonia. Future validation studies should be carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Misophonia is a chronic condition that describes aversion to specific auditory stimuli. Misophonia is characterized by physiological responsivity and negative emotional reactivity. Specific sounds, commonly referred to as "triggers," are often commonplace and sometimes repetitive. They include chewing, coughing, slurping, keyboard tapping, and pen clicking. Common emotional responses include rage, disgust, anxiety, and panic while physical responses include muscle constriction and increased heart rate. This literature review identifies research priorities, limitations, and new directions, examining the implications of misophonia for the social work profession. Misophonia is largely absent from the social work literature. However, the profession is uniquely equipped to understand, screen for, and effectively treat misophonia in direct practice or within interprofessional treatment teams. By conceptualizing misophonia as idiosyncratic and contextual, social workers would enhance the existing body of research by applying an ecological perspective which captures the interaction of individuals and environments in producing human experience. Such an approach would assist clients and clinicians in developing treatment plans that consider the roles of social and physical environments in the development and course of misophonia. A discussion of current limitations within the misophonia literature further emphasizes the need for new perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionMisophonia is a recently defined disorder characterized by distressing responses to everyday sounds, such as chewing or sniffling. Individuals with misophonia experience significant functional impairment but have limited options for evidenced-based behavioral treatment. To address this gap in the literature, the current pilot trial explored the acceptability and efficacy of a transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral approach to treating symptoms of misophonia.MethodsThis trial was conducted in two studies: In Study 1, the Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders (UP) was delivered to eight patients in order to receive feedback to guide revisions to the treatment to suit this population. In Study 2, ten patients received the revised UP treatment to explore its acceptability and preliminary efficacy. This study used a single-case experimental design with multiple baselines, randomizing patients to either a 2-week baseline or 4-week baseline prior to the 16 weeks of treatment, followed by four weeks of follow-up.ResultsThe findings from these studies suggested that patients found both the original and adapted versions of the UP to be acceptable and taught them skills for how to manage their misophonia symptoms. Importantly, the findings also suggested that the UP can help remediate symptoms of misophonia, particularly the emotional and behavioral responses.DiscussionThese findings provide preliminary evidence that this transdiagnostic treatment for emotional disorders can improve symptoms of misophonia in adults.

Misophonia has been characterized as intense negative reactions to specific trigger sounds (often orofacial sounds like chewing, sniffling, or slurping). However, recent research suggests high-level, contextual, and multisensory factors are also involved. We recently demonstrated that neurotypicals negative reactions to aversive sounds (e.g., nails scratching a chalkboard) are attenuated when the sounds are synced with positive attributable video sources (PAVS; e.g., tearing a piece of paper). To assess whether this effect generalizes to misophonic triggers, we developed a Sound-Swapped Video (SSV) database for use in misophonia research. In Study 1, we created a set of 39 video clips depicting common trigger sounds (original video sources, OVS) and a corresponding set of 39 PAVS temporally synchronized with the OVS videos. In Study 2, participants (N = 34) rated the 39 PAVS videos for their audiovisual match and pleasantness. We selected the 20 PAVS videos with best match scores for use in Study 3. In Study 3, a new group of participants (n = 102) observed the 20 selected PAVS and 20 corresponding OVS and judged the pleasantness or unpleasantness of each sound in the two contexts accompanying each video. Afterward, participants completed the Misophonia Questionnaire (MQ). The results of Study 3 show a robust attenuating effect of PAVS videos on the reported unpleasantness of trigger sounds: trigger sounds were rated as significantly less unpleasant when paired with PAVS with than OVS. Moreover, this attenuating effect was present in nearly every participant (99 out of 102) regardless of their score on the MQ. In fact, we found a moderate positive correlation between the PAVS-OVS difference and misophonia severity scores. Overall our results provide validation that the SSV database is a useful stimulus database to study how misophonic responses can be modulated by visual contexts. Here, we release the SSV database with the best 18 PAVS and 18 OVS videos used in Study 3 along with aggregate ratings of audio-video match and pleasantness (https://osf.io/3ysfh/). We also provide detailed instructions on how to produce these videos, with the hope that this database grows and improves through collaborations with the community of misophonia researchers.

Misophonia is an unusually strong aversion to everyday sounds such as chewing, crunching, or breathing. Previous studies have suggested that rates of autism might be elevated in misophonia, and here we examine this claim in detail. We present a comprehensive review of the relevant literature, and two empirical studies examining children and adults with misophonia. We tested 142 children and 379 adults for traits associated with autism (i.e., attention-to-detail, attention-switching, social processing, communication, imagination, emotion regulation, and sensory sensitivity across multiple domains). Our data show that autistic traits are indeed elevated in misophonics compared to controls. We discuss our findings in relation to models of the interface between autism, sensory sensitivities, and the specific features of misophonia.

Purpose: Misophonia is not investigated much from an audiological perspective. Our study aims to examine the processing of the auditory retro-cochlear pathways in individuals with misophonia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among university students who had misophonia. The revised Amsterdam Misophonia Scale was used to determine the severity of misophonia. Participants were divided into mild and moderate-severe misophonia and compared with the healthy control group. Auditory Brainstem Response testing was recorded from all the individuals with misophonia. The absolute latency, amplitude, inter-peak latency difference, and inter-rate latency difference were compared between the groups. Results: One-way ANOVA result showed no significant difference in all the parameters of auditory brainstem response between the groups. These results are suggestive of normal brainstem processing in individuals with misophonia. Conclusions: The study concludes that the auditory pathway up to brainstem areas is intact in individuals with misophonia. Further studies are essential on a larger population for generalizing the results.

Aim: Research show that misophonia accompanies many psychiatric disorders and should be considered a mental disorder. Although there are suggested diagnostic criteria, no clear ones have been defined yet. This study aims to investigate the relationship of misophonia with other mental disorders and to determine its possible category in diagnostic classification systems. Material and Methods: We included the patients who applied to the outpatient clinics of the XX University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry for the first time and healthy volunteers without a history of psychiatric disorder. A sociodemographic data form, Misophonia Interview Scale, Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS), and Yale-Brown Obsession Compulsion Rating Scale (YBOCS) were administered to the participants. Results: 60.1% of the participants (n=158) did not have misophonia, 21.3% (n=56) had disorder-level misophonia, and 18.6% (n=49) had symptom-level misophonia. Except for the YBOCS-total and obsession/compulsion scale scores of the group with misophonia, all other mean scale scores were significantly higher than those without misophonia (p<0.05 for each). The participants with misophonia were mostly in the group diagnosed with anxiety disorders. There was a moderately positive correlation between the Misophonia Symptom List total score and the BAI score in participants with an anxiety disorder (p=0.001). Conclusion: The higher scale scores of individuals with misophonia support that it may be a mental disorder. The results that misophonia most frequently accompanies anxiety disorders and is associated with the severity of anxiety suggest that it can be classified as an anxiety disorder in the diagnostic classification. Recognition of misophonia by clinicians and the development treatment algorithms will increase patients' quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Misophonia is a neurophysiological disorder with behavioral implications, is complex and multifactorial in origin, and is characterized by an atypical and disproportionate emotional response to specific sounds or associated visual stimuli. Triggers include human-generated sounds, mainly sounds related to feeding and breathing processes, and repetitive mechanical sounds. In response to the triggering stimulus, the patient experiences immediate, high-intensity, disproportionate physical and emotional reactions that affect their quality of life and social functioning. The symptoms of misophonia can occur at any age, but onset in childhood or adolescence is most common. Affected children live in a constant state of anxiety, suffer continuous physical and emotional discomfort, and are thus exposed to significant chronic stress. Chronic stress, especially during childhood, has consequences on the main biological systems through the dysregulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, including the gastrointestinal tract. Here, we provide arguments for a positive correlation between misophonic pathology and gastrointestinal symptoms, and this hypothesis may be the starting point for further longitudinal studies that could investigate the correlations between these childhood vulnerabilities caused by misophonia and their effect on the gastrointestinal system. Further research to study this hypothesis is essential to ensure correct and timely diagnosis and optimal psychological and pharmacological support.

Purpose: Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a key intervention for management of misophonia, hyperacusis, and tinnitus. The aim of this study was to perform a preliminary analysis comparing the scores for self-report questionnaires before and after audiologist-delivered CBT via video calls for adults with misophonia, hyperacusis, or tinnitus or a combination of these. Method: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study. The data for 37 consecutive patients who received CBT for misophonia, hyperacusis, or tinnitus from a private institute in the United Kingdom were analyzed. Self-report questionnaires taken as part of routine care were as follows: 4C Questionnaires for tinnitus, hyperacusis, and misophonia (4C-T, 4C-H, and 4C-M, respectively), Tinnitus Impact Questionnaire (TIQ), Hyperacusis Impact Questionnaire (HIQ), Misophonia Impact Questionnaire (MIQ), Sound Sensitivity Symptoms Questionnaire (SSSQ), and Screening for Anxiety and Depression in Tinnitus (SAD-T). Responses were also obtained to other questionnaires related to tinnitus, hyperacusis, insomnia, and anxiety and mood disorders. A linear mixed-model method was used to assess the changes in response to the questionnaires pretreatment and posttreatment. Results: Pretreatment--posttreatment comparisons showed that scores for the 4C-T, 4C-H, 4C-M, TIQ, HIQ, MIQ, SSSQ, and SAD-T improved, with effect sizes of 1.4, 1.2, 1.3, 2.6, 0.9, 0.7, 0.9, and 1.4, respectively (all p < .05). Conclusions: This preliminary analysis suggests that CBT via video calls may be effective in reducing the impact of misophonia, hyperacusis, and tinnitus. However, this study did not have a control group, so its results need to be interpreted with caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]