Find a therapist near me

Misophonia's neural signature is different than what we see in anxiety and other disorders.

This adds important evidence to the notion that misophonia is a standalone disorder.

The anterior insula, part of the salience network, is highly involved in misophonia.

In the study, the more connectivity from the anterior insula is associated with more severe misophonia.

I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Heather Hansen about her latest work, which adds support to the notion that misophonia is a stand-alone disorder. Dr. Hansen runs the Cognition and Auditory Perception of Everyday Sounds (CAPES) Lab in the Department of Psychological Sciences at William & Mary College. For her recent study, Hansen and colleagues analyzed the brain connectivity of 162 adults as a function of misophonia severity. Their findings highlight numerous important issues about misophonia, bringing us further in our understanding of misophonia as a disorder that crosses disciplines but is simultaneously a unique disorder.

Jennifer Brout: I am very excited to speak to you about your findings! To me, the finding that misophonia has a very specific neural signature adds important evidence to the idea that it is a standalone disorder. Am I understanding that correctly?

Heather Hansen: Yes, this neural signature is different than what we see in anxiety and other disorders. Our main finding is........

© Psychology Today