After all, misophonia is more than just hating the sound of chewing.

For the first time, researchers analyzed the parts of the brain associated with misophonia, a condition related to a strong aversion to certain sounds.

Individuals with this condition (up to 20% of the population) have severe and negative physical or emotional reactions—often seen as exaggerated—to sounds that most of us don’t notice or give meaning to, such as to chewin cough or from clear throat.

on one study Earlier, from the University of Newcastle, UK, researchers found that people with misophonia have an increased connection between the brain’s auditory cortex and movement control areas of the mouth, throat and face, described as a “hypersensitive connection”.

“This is the first time such an association has been linked in the brain to this disease,” explained the study’s lead author, Sukhbinder Kumar.

This new investigation, developed by Ohio University, revealed that this earlier explanation may not be correct or complete. Recently Posted in Frontiers in NeuroscienceThe analysis is the first to study what happens in the brain of people Tap repeatedly with fingersadvanced in science daily.

The results showed that the brain connection patterns generated by tapping with the fingers were different from those resulting from chewing.

“The story about what happens in the brain is incomplete if we only focus” on “mastication or related sounds,” said Heather Hansen, lead author of the study. “We cannot say that misophonia is caused solely by highly sensitive brain connections with the motor cortex of the facial mouth.”

The study included exams MRI functional for 19 adults, while they were performing various tasks. Participants also completed three different questionnaires.

One of the tasks involved the pronunciation of several syllables. The results showed that areas of the brain are activated by speech, which interferes with the movement of the mouth and face. Participants also repeatedly tapped their legs with their fingers, and analyzed when they took no action.

The results showed that when they were at rest, participants who scored higher for misophonia showed stronger connections between the auditory cortex and the movement control area — as shown in the previous study.

However, when the participants produces soundsa different area of ​​the brain was activated — and this area did not show stronger connectivity patterns in people with high levels of misophonia than in those with low levels.

What the previous research attributed to the oral and facial area – the area concerned with mouth and facial movements – may not be so [estar] truly [relacionado] with the mouth and face area,” Hansen said. “These findings suggest that the highly sensitive brain connections found in the previous study do not explain misophonia.”

The study showed that participants who scored higher on tests had a greater connection between the brain regions associated with finger movement and the insula — associated with strong emotions, including disgust.

There was no association with the auditory cortex. “The important link was with the insula,” Hansen said. “We have real evidence of people who dislike sounds that are not just those from the mouth and the face. It is an important step forward in understanding misophonia.”