Page 9 - HSMP student project

Though the link in the genetic cause of misophonia brings us to the next point, how
does it affect the brain? Or rather, what in the
brain is misophonia affecting? The reflexes misophonia causes are similar to a fight or flight
reaction, the parts in the brain where misophonia stems from is the limbic system and
autonomic nervous system. Misophonia
commonly described as an involuntary physical
and emotional reflex caused by these sounds.
These sounds directly activate the autonomic
nervous system which is located in the
brainstem and the limbic system, the parts of
the brain that control emotion. But what is the
autonomic nervous system and the limbic system? According to Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org › wiki › autonomic_nervous_system, the text states, “The autonomic nervous system is a control system that acts largely unconsciously and regulates bodily functions, such as the heart rate, digestion, respiratory rate, pupillary response, and urination.” Now what
is the ​limbic system​? Simply put it is a complex system of nerves and networks in the brain, involving several areas near the edge of the cortex concerned with instinct and mood. It controls basic emotions.
More importantly, what do these systems within the brain have to do with misophonia? For the
limbic system that thing is synesthesia. Synesthesia is the production of a sense impression, relating to one sense or part of the body by stimulation of another sense or part of the body. Emotional synesthesia however, controls negative and aggressive emotional reactions to sound, commonly described as hatred towards the sound which is much like misophonia. The limbic system plays a part in causing misophonia and synesthesia reactions because of an involuntary
physical and emotional reflex caused by the sound. These sounds then directly activate the autonomic nervous system. The relationship that misophonia has with the autonomic nervous system is still being discovered just as with the limbic system. Much like in the limbic system, since both of the systems are so closely related, the
autonomic nervous system’s reactions are also from negative emotional reactivity. Negative emotional reactivity is simply how often and how much a person experiences negative emotions. Because so much is still being discovered about the link between this condition and the brain, the information about their connections is mainly in scans of the brain from people with misophonia that show changes in the
Wellness 101 - Spring 2020