This is why the sound of chewing might actually enrage you

If you’ve ever had to take a deep breath and remind yourself that it’s impolite to shout at a person for chomping loudly on their lunch, you’re not alone — and there’s actually a scientific reason why the sound of chewing might make you so angry. People who cringe at the sounds of noisy eating, repeated pen-clicking, and loud breathing may suffer from may suffer from misophonia, a disorder that affects the brain’s frontal lobe.

According to a report published in the journal Current Biology, scientists found that individuals with misophonia experience changes in brain activity when they hear a “trigger” sound.

Brain imaging showed that an abnormality in the emotional control mechanism causes misophonia sufferers’ brains to go into overdrive when they hear these noises.

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The study also found that people with misophonia experience physical side effects, like an increased heart rate and sweating, when they hear trigger noises.

Like many others, Tim Griffiths, Professor of Cognitive Neurology at Newcastle University and UCL, was once skeptical of whether or not misophonia is a legitimate disorder. But, after observing the MRIs of people with and without misophonia, he changed his tune.

"I hope this will reassure sufferers," he wrote in a press release. "I was part of the skeptical community myself until we saw patients in the clinic and understood how strikingly similar the features are."

This is the first study that has shown a difference in brain structure and function in sufferers.

“This study demonstrates the critical brain changes as further evidence to convince a sceptical medical community that this is a genuine disorder," said Dr. Sukhbinder Kumar, from the Institute of Neuroscience at Newcastle University and the Wellcome Centre for NeuroImaging at University College London.

So, if you absolutely cannot stand the sounds of loud breathing or eating, it’s entirely possible that you’re not just being a curmudgeon — a brain abnormality may be responsible for your reaction.