Identifying the Optimal Neural Target for Misophonia Interventions

Plain-language summary

Misophonia, the inability to tolerate certain repetitive aversive sounds that are common, is gaining recognition as a debilitating condition. It is not a well-understood condition and there are no known treatments. Up to one in five people report moderate or higher misophonia symptoms; nevertheless, resources aimed at understanding and treating this problem are scarce. In order to align misophonia research with the priorities of large funding agencies such as the National Institute of Mental Health, the investigators propose a novel study aimed at separating misophonic distress from other types of emotional distress. The investigators plan to examine changes in brain activation during presentation and regulation of misophonic versus distressing sounds. Emergent neural networks that may be involved in misophonia will then be tested in the lab with the use of noninvasive neurostimulation, a novel tool that can enhance or inhibit activation in a targeted brain region. The investigators plan to modulate activation in key areas of the misophonia brain circuitry with the aim to identify the optimal neural target for misophonia interventions. Our multidisciplinary team at the Duke Center for Misophonia and Emotion Regulation brings together experts in misophonia, neuroscience, neuromodulation, neurology, and biostatistics who share the long-term goal of developing and refining an intervention for this condition in an environment that is optimal to conduct the proposed research. The investigators propose to recruit adults who self-report significant misophonia symptoms and adults who meet criteria for a current psychiatric disorder and who self-report difficulties calming down when upset. All participants will undergo a brain imaging session during which misophonic cues; distressing, non-misophonic cues; or neutral cues will be presented. Participants will then be asked to experience, or attempt to downregulate emotions associated with these cues. Based on the imaging results, two personalized neurostimulation targets will be identified: (1) the region in the frontal cortex with the most activity during the downregulation of misophonic versus neutral sounds and (2) the prefrontal region with the strongest functional connectivity to the anterior insular cortex. Participants will receive real or sham neurostimulation over the prefrontal cortex and insula in a random order, while engaging in listening to versus downregulating misophonic, aversive, or neutral cues. The investigators plan to assess emotional dysregulation, psychopathology, and misophonia with a multi-method battery of measures during all three study appointments. Feasibility and acceptability will be examined qualitatively. If successful, our study can be the first step in a series of investigations that establish the unique targets for neural intervention for misophonia.

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