Certain sounds may trigger some negative reactions from us but for people with a condition called misophonia, seemingly ordinary sounds like chewing or coughing can be extremely uncomfortable or disturbing.
Misophonia is characterized by intense emotion like rage or fear in response to highly specific sounds, particularly ordinary sounds that other people make. The cause is unknown.
Recently, a study was conducted to assess how misophonia works.
The team looked at 20 adults with misophonia and 22 without it. They had the participants rate the unpleasantness of different sounds, including common trigger sounds like eating and breathing, universally disliked sounds like nails on a chalkboard, and neutral sounds like footsteps or a bird chirping.
The results of the test showed that both groups had similar reactions to both neutral and negative sounds. But people with misophonia rated eating and breathing as highly disturbing.
(Image credit: Meredith Rizzo/NPR)