My Question (or rather what I typed into google): What in the brain causes Misophonia?
I decided first to gather the information from sites that stuck out to me and made me feel like my question was being answered and what I wondered was being answered. So I saved the chunks of the sites that made me feel like my question was answered (and put a couple definitions in that I needed). Anything that isn't correlated exactly to my question still explains other questions I had over the topic and still felt relevant to me. (My thought process is after my copied sections from the two articles)
First Article:
What causes misophonia? The misophonic reaction appears to be an involuntary physical and emotional reflex caused by the sound. The sound directly activates the Autonomic Nervous System (the part of the nervous system responsible for control of the bodily functions not consciously directed, such as breathing, the heartbeat, and digestive processes) which is located in the brain stem and the Limbic System which is associated with emotion. This is a direct connection between the sound and a reflex reaction. Think of the sound as causing the same reaction as a hard poke in the ribs with a stick. Behavior science explains this physiological reaction as a “respondent” or “reflex” behavior that has been acquired or developed by pairing the sound with a distressed (stress, anxiety, etc.) physiological condition. When these two things happen at the same time (distress and the sound), it creates neurological wiring in the brain that causes the misophonia reaction when the sound is heard again. I call this an acquired reflex because it is not an innate or inborn reaction (did not exist at birth). It is a reflex because it is a direct connection from a sense (hearing) to the Autonomic Nervous System and the Lymbic System. We see that misophonia is actually a double reflex. We think of misophonia as an extreme emotional (reflex) response, and it is. The brain imaging study by Dr. Sukhbinder Kumar, The Brain Basis of Misophonia (2017) provides evidence for the emotional reflex response of misophonia, and it is driven by the vmPFC (Ventrolateral prefrontal cortex is a region of the frontal lobes that is typically associated with response inhibition and goal-appropriate response selection) which is an emotional learning brain structure. But there appears to also be a physical reflex that occurs, which is usually a skeletal muscle flinch. The physical reflex can also be deeper inside the body. There are reports of individuals with stomach, intestine, or esophagus constriction, urge to urinate, or a sexual sensation. https://misophoniainstitute.org/what-is-misophonia/ |
Second Article:
The team’s important finding was in a part of the brain that plays a role both in anger and in integrating outside inputs (such as sounds) with inputs from organs such as the heart and lungs: the anterior insular cortex (AIC). Using fMRI scans to measure brain activity, the researchers found that the AIC caused much more activity in other parts of the brain during the trigger sounds for those with misophonia than for the control group. Specifically, the parts of the brain responsible for long-term memories, fear, and other emotions were activated. This makes sense, since people with misophonia have strong emotional reactions to common sounds; more importantly, it demonstrates that these parts of the brain are the ones responsible for the experience of misophonia. The researchers also used whole-brain MRI scans to map participants’ brains and found that people with misophonia have higher amounts of myelination. Myelin is a fatty substance that wraps around nerve cells in the brain to provide electrical insulation, like the insulation on a wire. It’s not known if the extra myelin is a cause or an effect of misophonia and its triggering of other brain areas. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/misophonia-sounds-really-make-crazy-2017042111534 |
My Analysis (Thoughts during, questions and answers and thoughts after):
What I thought about while looking over these articles:
I had previously looked into this topic and knew it had something to do with how my brain was wired due to knowing my reactions to certain sounds, but I really avoided the topic as soon as I found generally just something to explain it so that I'd be able to believe I understood. Deciding to look into it now was rough, I thought it'd be easier due to being less-exposed to things that trigger reactions I have alike to those explained in the full articles, I was wrong. It was pretty interesting for a bit, to look into the names of actual parts of my brain that caused the reactions that I have and potentially why I have them (without just guessing as I did in a previous project).
The series of questions I had (what I wondered to cause me to search the question in the first place):
- What certain parts of the body cause this sort of reaction?
- Is there a chemical difference just as there is in Depression and Anxiety disorders?
- Is the physical response purely because of the mental reaction?
- Was this condition something that would be caused through repeated exposure becoming associated with negative emotions?
My Answers:
What certain parts of the body cause this soft of reaction?
- Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex (is responsible for response inhibition and goal-appropriate response selection)
- Autonomic Nervous System (controls breathing, heartbeat and digestive processes)
- Limbic System (deals with emotions and memories)
- Anterior Insular Cortex (responsible for emotional feelings)
- Amygdala (this one I know personally, it isn't in the articles, it is responsible for emotions, survival instincts and memory. Also known as the "fear center".)
- Other things (I'm sure there's more, I'm satisfied with this amount of things though)
Is there a chemical difference just as there is in Depression and Anxiety disorders?
- There is, people with Misophonia have a higher amount of Myelin (if it caused it or is a result of it, unknown)
Is the physical response purely because of the mental reaction?
- The physical reaction is just as much a reflex as the mental response is. (I especially like how it's stated "Think of the sound as causing the same reaction as a hard poke in the ribs with a stick" because it feels like a great way to describe the feeling.)
Was this condition something that would be caused through repeated exposure becoming associated with negative emotions?
- It is stated that "has been acquired or developed by pairing the sound with a distressed (stress, anxiety, etc.) physiological condition" so it sounds as though it is a response that has been caused due to repeated exposure just as is explained through the use of conditioning as I had theorized in my project when going over behaviorism in my Me! Gallery.
What I think now:
I don't really know what to think, the whole process going through this has given me quite a lot to think over. I didn't really expect to discover that my theory was correct, it's kind of shocking and makes it harder to not get upset over. As much as I said it wouldn't change anything to feel that way it doesn't mean I don't feel it. I definitely have a lot to think over, but I'm somewhat glad to have found out a bit more over how it all works, like how there's an actual nervous system correlated to my reactions. Of course I'd already known that my reactions were out of my control, it was simply the state of my mind and body that I'd have to live with, but it's almost like a hint of a breath of fresh air to find there's actual knowledge and science that explains it.