Page 7 - HSMP student project

Misophonia​:
What can cause it ​and ​how does it affect the brain?
By: Destiny
hat is misophonia? Well the simple answer to that question is that misophonia is a disorder that causes
an extreme irritation and aggravation to simple sound triggers. These sound triggers would not normally bother the average person. But the thing about misophonia is that scientists are still unsure what causes it. Another important question to ask yourself is: “How do the underlying causes affect you and your brain enough to cause misophonia in the first place?” Well ”spoiler”, there are no definitive answers to any of these questions, because a lot of things are unknown about this relatively rare disorder. So the question remains, what causes it? And how does it affect you, and more specifically your brain.
First of all, what can cause misophonia? At first it was heavily suggested that trauma can cause misophonia but that’s actually not true. This is because misophonia in an individual is simply what the individual perceives as a trauma when related to a reflex that is caused by an environmental sound. Currently, causes of misophonia are known to be sound triggers and genetics. Misophonia is always linked back to a physical cause (sound); there always has to be a sound related trigger in its arrival. This is because scientists believe that misophonia is a conditioned reflex to distressing sounds that eventually cause these aggravated reactions. According to ​Misophonia: Triggers & Management | Neurology Times sounds that are commonly misophonia triggers are: “C​ hewing noises are probably the most common trigger, but other sounds such as slurping, crunching, mouth noises, tongue clicking, sniffling, tapping, joint cracking, nail clipping, and the infamous nails on the chalkboard.” Nonetheless, while it is not the trauma that
Wellness 101 - Spring 2020