Perseveration in Misophonia: A Neuropsychological Approach

Abstract

Misophonia is categorized by strong, negative reactions to auditory stimuli, often orofacial (e.g., chewing, throat clearing), which may significantly impact daily functioning. Research on how misophonia may affect cognitive functions remains limited, though it shares characteristics with conditions known to influence cognition (e.g., Autism Spectrum Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder). Of particular interest, those who have these disorders may display perseverance, the repetition of an inappropriate behavior rather than adapting to new stimuli. Given the similarities between these disorders and evidence of behavioral rigidity in previous studies, perseveration may also be present in misophonia. Perseveration has typically been assessed using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, a visual task. The current study tested perseveration and behavioral rigidity through an auditory learning task to target the sensory domain implicated in misophonia. Students from the University of Oklahoma participated by completing a detailed online survey that gauges experiences and severity of misophonia, followed by an audiology workup, then battery of behavioral tasks while Electroencephalography (EEG) data was collected to correlate behavioral outcomes with neural markers of auditory sensory fidelity. While this study did not replicate behavioral rigidity, and neural markers did not correlate with behavioral measures as anticipated, one neural marker showed a relationship with a perseverative measure. Although explicit perseveration was not observed, correlations between perseverative and behavioral measures warrant the need for further investigation. This work may provide insight into the cognitive factors that influence misophonia.