Opening a window into the riddle of misophonia, sensory over-responsiveness, and pain

• Published in: Frontiers in neuroscience 2022-08, Vol.16, p.907585-907585
• Main Authors: Efraim Kaufman, Adi, Weissman-Fogel, Irit, Rosenthal, M. Zachary, Kaplan Neeman, Ricky, Bar-Shalita, Tami
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: auditory hyperalgesia; ecological sounds; misophonia; Neuroscience; pain sensitivity; sensory over-responsiveness; sensory processing
• ISSN: 1662-453X; 1662-4548; 1662-453X
• DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.907585

IntroductionMisophonia and sensory over-responsiveness (SOR) share physiological and psychological symptoms. While individuals with SOR demonstrate pain perception alterations, these were not explored in misophonia.MethodsThis exploratory study comprised thirty healthy adults with (n = 15; based on the Misophonia Questionnaire) and without misophonia. The Sensory Responsiveness Questionnaire (SRQ) was used for evaluating sensory responsiveness. In addition, psychophysical tests were applied for quantification of: (i) stimulus-response function of painful stimuli, (ii) the individual perceived pain intensity, (iii) pain modulation efficiency, (iv) auditory intensity discrimination capability, and (v) painful and unpleasantness responses to six ecological daily sounds using the Battery of Aversiveness to Sounds (BAS).ResultsIndividuals with misophonia reported higher scores in the SRQ-Aversive (p = 0.022) and SRQ-Hedonic (p = 0.029) scales as well as in auditory (p = 0.042) and smell (p = 0.006) sub-scales, indicating higher sensory responsiveness. Yet they were not identified with the SOR type of sensory modulation dysfunction. Groups did not differ in the pain psychophysical tests, and in auditory discrimination test scores (p > 0.05). However, in the misophonia group the BAS evoked higher pain intensity (p = 0.046) and unpleasantness (p