Misophonia is associated with heightened emotion evocation by music

Misophonia is a disorder commonly characterized by negative emotional responses to “trigger” sounds, such as chewing or tapping. It has been linked to conditions like hyperacusis and PTSD; however, the relationship between misophonia and musical processing remains underexplored. Under the framework that misophonia stems from altered connectivity between auditory and limbic systems, we predicted that individuals with greater misophonia severity would also show stronger emotional responses to music. From a large initial screening study (n = 300), a subset of participants (low misophonia: n = 58, high misophonia: n = 40) were asked about several musical and non-musical traits. Participants in the high misophonia group scored higher than the low misophonia group on several musical measures, including active engagement with music and emotion evocation from music. Participants in the high misophonia group also scored higher than the low misophonia group on hyperacusis and PTSD tendencies, replicating prior work. The present study supports conceptualizing misophonia in terms of enhanced auditory-emotional responses, to both negative (“trigger”) and positive stimuli, such as music. These findings fit within a small but growing body of research highlighting the positive emotional implications of misophonia, particularly in musical contexts.