A new study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research suggests that individuals with misophonia experience sensory sensitivities that extend beyond just sound. The findings suggest that this condition may involve a broader pattern of sensory processing differences, particularly regarding touch and smell, though these additional sensitivities rarely cause the same level of impairment as auditory triggers.
The motivation for this research emerged from clinical observations during trials for misophonia treatments. Lead researcher Mercedes Woolley noted that participants frequently described irritations with sensory inputs other than sound. Patients often mentioned discomfort with the feeling of clothing on their skin or specific odors.
“The idea for this study grew out of my work conducting interviews with adults enrolled in our clinical trial on the efficacy of acceptance and commitment therapy for misophonia. Our lab at Utah State University specializes in this form of cognitive‑behavioral therapy, and because misophonia is still relatively underexplored, our team wanted to gather as much information as possible about the lived experiences of people with misophonia,” explained Woolley.
“During the interviews, I asked participants about sensory sensitivities beyond sound, and I began noticing a pattern: many of them described additional sensitivities, especially tactile ones. One participant explained that it felt like being constantly aware of the sensation of wearing clothes, something that becomes irritating when your mind can’t shift attention away from it, especially when you need to focus on something else.”
“That comment resonated with me,” Woolley said. “I’ve always been sensitive to smells; certain odors can be overwhelming or frustrating. Personally, as a child, I strongly dislike particular smells, especially the smell of fruit and would go out of my way to avoid it and become irritated when my family disregarded my requests to avoid eating it in front of me. I made significant efforts to avoid anyone eating it, and sometimes I still do.”
“Hearing participants describe their reactions to specific trigger sounds reminded me of my own experiences, just in a different sensory domain. These observations made me wonder whether misophonia might be connected to broader sensory processing challenges or sensory overstimulation.”
“When I reviewed the existing literature, I found that a few researchers had already suggested that heightened sensory sensitivity could be correlated with, or even contribute to, misophonia. That gave me enough grounding to justify developing a study focused on this idea. We still don’t fully understand the underlying mechanisms of misophonia, but sensory processing clearly plays a role. Having data that allowed us to explore this connection was exciting, and publishing this paper felt like a meaningful step toward clarifying potential mechanisms and clinical correlates.”
To explore this, the researchers recruited 60 adults who met the clinical criteria for misophonia and 60 control participants who did not possess measurable traits of the condition. The groups were matched based on age and gender to ensure compatibility.
Participants in the clinical group underwent a detailed interview using the Duke Misophonia Interview to assess symptom severity and impairment. Both groups completed the Misophonia Questionnaire and the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile. This standardized measure evaluates how individuals respond to sensory experiences across categories like taste, smell, visual input, and touch.
The Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile assesses four distinct patterns of sensory processing. These patterns are based on a person’s neurological threshold for noticing a stimulus and their behavioral response to it. The four quadrants include low registration, sensation seeking, sensory sensitivity, and sensation avoidance.
Low registration refers to a tendency to miss sensory cues that others notice. Sensation seeking involves actively looking for sensory stimulation. Sensory sensitivity involves noticing stimuli more acutely than others. Finally, sensation avoidance involves actively trying to escape or reduce sensory input.
The researchers found distinct differences in how the two groups processed sensory information. Individuals with misophonia reported significantly higher levels of sensory sensitivity and sensation avoidance compared to the control group. They also reported lower levels of sensation seeking.
There was no statistical difference between the groups regarding low sensory registration. This indicates that people with misophonia do not lack awareness of sensory input. Instead, their systems appear to be highly reactive to the input they receive.
Within the misophonia group, 80 percent of participants endorsed sensitivity in at least one non-auditory domain. Sensitivity to touch was the most frequently reported non-auditory issue, affecting nearly 57 percent of the clinical group. Of those reporting tactile issues, close to half described their symptoms as moderate to severe. Olfactory sensitivities followed, while visual and taste sensitivities were less common.
Despite the high prevalence of these additional sensitivities, the participants reported that they caused relatively low impairment in their daily lives. This stands in contrast to the significant life disruption caused by their auditory triggers.
For example, 75 percent of participants reported no functional impairment related to their tactile sensitivities. The distress associated with misophonia appears to be tied specifically to the emotional nature of auditory triggers rather than general sensory over-responsivity.
The data indicated a positive association between the severity of misophonia and the intensity of other sensory issues. As misophonia symptoms became more severe, participants were more likely to report higher levels of sensory avoidance and sensitivity. This pattern was also observed in the control group among individuals with subthreshold symptoms. This suggests that sensory vulnerabilities may represent a general risk factor for the development of misophonia-like experiences.
“People with misophonia are most bothered by specific sounds, but many also have sensitivities in other senses, such as touch or smell,” Woolley told PsyPost. “This doesn’t mean they’re overwhelmed by everything; rather, their sensory processing system seems more reactive overall.”
“While many people with misophonia notice certain textures or smells more intensely, these sensitivities typically do not cause major life challenges in the same way misophonic sounds do. We also found that the more severe someone’s misophonia is, the more likely they are to have other sensory sensitivities as well. This doesn’t mean that sensitivities in other senses cause misophonia, but they may reflect a broader sensory processing vulnerability.”
These findings regarding sensory processing align with other recent investigations into the psychological profile of misophonia. A study published in the British Journal of Psychology indicates that the condition may reflect broader cognitive traits rather than being limited to annoyance at noises.
Researchers found that individuals with misophonia struggle with switching attention in emotionally charged situations. This suggests a pattern of mental rigidity that extends beyond the auditory system. Individuals with the condition often hyperfocus on specific sounds and find it difficult to shift their attention elsewhere.
Further evidence regarding attentional processing comes from research published in the Journal of Affective Disorders. This study examined young people and found that those with misophonia exhibit heightened attentional processing compared to those with anxiety disorders.
The data supports the hypothesis that misophonia is linked to a state of increased vigilance. The affected individuals appear to be more aware of environmental stimuli in general. They performed better on tasks requiring the detection of subtle differences in stimuli, indicating a nervous system that is highly tuned to the environment.
The heightened state of arousal observed in misophonia patients also has associations with stress levels. Research published in PLOS One examined the relationship between misophonia severity and various forms of stress. The authors found that higher symptom severity was associated with greater levels of perceived stress and hyperarousal.
This suggests that the condition involves transdiagnostic processes related to how the body manages stress and alertness. While the study did not find a direct causal link to traumatic history, the presence of hyperarousal suggests a physiological state similar to that seen in post-traumatic stress disorders.
The biological underpinnings of these traits have been explored through genetic analysis as well. A large-scale study published in Frontiers in Neuroscience utilized a Genome-Wide Association Study to identify genetic factors. The researchers found that misophonia shares significant genetic overlap with psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. The study identified a specific genetic locus associated with the rage response to chewing sounds.
Understanding misophonia as a condition involving multisensory and cognitive differences helps explain why treatments solely focused on sound often fall short. The combination of sensory avoidance, cognitive rigidity, and physiological hyperarousal points to a complex disorder. The new findings from Woolley and colleagues reinforce the idea that while sound is the primary trigger, the underlying mechanism involves a broader sensory processing vulnerability.
As with all research, the current study by Woolley and colleagues has certain limitations. The researchers did not screen participants for autism spectrum disorder, so it is possible that some reported sensory traits reflect undiagnosed autism. The study relied on a single clinician for interviews, and interrater reliability was not assessed. Additionally, the researchers were unable to compare specific sensory domains between the clinical and control groups due to data limitations in the control set.
Future research should aim to clarify the relationship between misophonia and broader sensory processing patterns using larger samples. Longitudinal designs could help determine how these sensory sensitivities develop over time. It remains to be seen whether these non-auditory sensitivities precede the onset of misophonia or develop concurrently. Further investigation into the mechanisms of sensory over-responsivity could lead to more effective, holistic treatment strategies for those suffering from this challenging condition.
The study, “Sensory processing differences in misophonia: Assessing sensory sensitivities beyond auditory triggers,” was authored by Mercedes G. Woolley, Hailey E. Johnson, Samuel J.E. Knight, Emily M. Bowers, Julie M. Petersen, Karen Muñoz, and Michael P. Twohig.