There's a fair chance there's a sound that annoys you.

以上的聲音很有可能就有讓你覺得惱怒的聲音在其中。

Right?

是吧？

Think about what that sound is and then consider this:

想想看是什麼樣的聲音，然後思考以下問題：

How does it make you feel?

這讓你感覺如何？

For me, it's a sound my Mum makes.

對我來說，是我媽媽製造的聲音。

Every night she heats up this weird barley milk drink and stirs her cup with a spoon.

每天晚上她都會加熱這個奇特的大麥牛奶飲料，然後用湯匙在杯子裡攪拌。

Really loudly.

非常大聲地攪拌。

And I find it's so annoying.

真的超煩。

So I've been interested in why some people have such strong impulsive and emotional reactions to common sounds.

所以我對於為什麼有些人會對日常的聲音產生強烈的衝動與情緒反應感興趣。

Sure, some of us might be irritated, but other people get angry and even distressed.

當然我們有些人可能會覺得煩躁，但其他人會感到憤怒甚至感到痛苦。

Is there more to it?

還有更嚴重的嗎？

Now, my friend Molly suffers from Misophonia.

現在，我的朋友 Molly 正為恐聲症所苦。

The term literally means a hatred of sound and it's a sound sensitivity syndrome where

這個詞就如字面上所是，意思是對聲音的憎恨，這是一種聲音敏感性綜合症，

people have strong emotional or physical reactions to common sounds – like eating sounds, clicking

有這個症狀的人們會對日常的聲響產生強烈情緒或生理反應 —— 像是咀嚼聲、點擊聲、

or tapping, even certain materials rubbing.

或是輕扣的聲音，甚至特定的材料摩擦聲。

It's easiest for me to start with scraping sounds – I feel like that bothers a lot of people.

最容易激怒我的就是刮擦聲 —— 我覺得這困擾很多人。

So like...

所以，就像是 ...

That's bad.

這很糟。

But like… that's less bad.

但像這個，就比較沒那麼糟。

And then like… that's okay.

然後像這個，這個還可以接受。

And it's also textural…

還有跟質地也有關 ...

I feel like a lot of them are quite textural.

我覺得很多都是質地問題。

And when you scrape a rough ceramic alongside a smooth ceramic that's a horrible sound for me.

當你沿著光滑瓷器刮著粗糙的瓷器，對我來說那聲音很可怕。

And people with Misophonia get more than annoyed by sounds – they experience distress.

有恐聲症的人們對聲音不只是感到惱怒而已 —— 他們感受到的是痛苦。

Their hearts race, their chests tighten and their muscles become tense.

他們的心跳變快、他們的胸腔緊繃還有肌肉變得緊張。

It actually hurts in my teeth quite a little bit.

其實我的牙齒會稍微感到疼痛。

I get like a weird, it's almost a vibrational feeling in the back of my molars.

我覺得有點奇怪，在我的臼齒後面有種震動的感覺。

It's almost tingle up my neck actually for that one.

那一個聲音實際上會讓我的頸部感到刺痛。

It feels almost shrill.

感覺像尖叫一樣。

So why do some people have these reactions?

所以，為什麼有些人會有如此反應呢？

Well, one explanation is that their brains are wired to react to sounds differently.

嗯，有一說是他們的大腦天生就對聲音的反應與眾不同。

In a recent study, two groups – people with misophonia and a control group – were asked

在近來的研究中，有兩組人 — 有恐聲症的人，還有對照組 —

to lay in an fMRI machine.

被要求躺在功能性磁振造影機器中 (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging，簡稱 fMRI)。

They were played neutral sounds, like rain on a window; unpleasant sounds, like a baby

他們會聽到中性的聲音，像雨滴打到窗戶的聲音；不愉快的聲音，像嬰兒哭聲；

crying; and trigger sounds, like someone eating.

還有引起反應的聲音，像某人的咀嚼聲。

And when these trigger sounds were played, researchers noticed a big difference between

當這些引起反應的聲音播放時，研究人員注意到兩組人之間有很大的差異 ——

the groups – in a brain area that helps you spot noticeable things in the environment and pay attention to them.

在幫助你辨別環境中重要事物並專注在其中的大腦區域中。

For those with misophonia, this area went into overdrive and it led to higher activity

對那些有恐聲症的人來說，這個區域變得過度疲勞，並且導致大腦其他區域高度活躍，

in other areas of the brains, specifically those responsible for long-term memories, fear and regulating emotions.

特別是那些負責長期記憶、恐懼與管控情緒的地方。

This hyperactivity suggests people with misophonia aren't processing those particular

這樣的高度活躍說明有恐聲症的人對特定聲音的處理方式不同，

sounds the way they should and are reacting to them disproportionately.

並且對那些聲音有異常的反應。

They experience the anxiety of a life threatening situation when... it's just like their girlfriend eating chips.

他們會感受到像是生命被威脅的情境下的焦慮感，當 ... 他們的女朋友在吃洋芋片的時候。

But, how do we know that this hyperactivity doesn't happen in all of our brains when we hear something annoying?

但我們怎麼知道當我們聽到一些惱人的聲音時，這樣的高度活躍不會發生在我們所有人的大腦中？

Well, the participants also rated how much the sounds were annoying and distressful.

嗯，參與者也要對那些聲音有多惱人或多令人感到痛苦來評分。

In those with misophonia, while the trigger sounds caused distress, the unpleasant sounds did not.

對有恐聲症的人來說，雖然觸發的聲響會引起痛苦的感覺，但令人不悅的聲音並不會。

Just general annoyance.

就只是一般的惱人程度。

And the researchers saw this reflected in their brain activity – people with misophonia

研究人員查看他們大腦活動的反應 —— 那些有恐聲症的人

didn't have the same hyperactive response to just unpleasant sounds.

對於純粹令人不悅的聲音不會有相同的高度活躍反應。

But this is one of the only experimental studies on misophonia so it's not quite enough to be certain.

但這只是恐聲症中的僅有的實驗研究，所以並不足以用來確定成因。

Though, we can find some other clues in our behaviour.

但我們可以在我們的行為中找到其他證據。

“Well everyone gets annoyed by certain sounds ...”

「嗯，每個人都會對特定聲音感到煩躁 ...」

This is Dr. Ali Mattu, a clinical psychologist with a great YouTube channel.

這一位是 Ali Mattu 醫生，他是臨床心理學家，也經營著很棒的 YouTube 頻道。

“But for misophonia it's taking that to more of an extreme.

「但對恐聲症而言，這樣煩躁的程度會到達極致。

Where it is very quickly distressing.

他們很快就會感到痛苦。

The first reaction might be… just get me out of here.”

第一個反應可能會是 ... 讓我離開這裡。」

Though despite these extreme reactions that people experience, misophonia still isn't recognised as a disorder.

儘管人們感受到這樣極端的反應，恐聲症還是不被視為一種疾病。

And this makes it really hard to get funding to do more research.

這使得恐聲症很難募得資金去做更多研究。

“We're not sure what we're talking about when we say misophonia.

「我們不太確定當我們談論恐聲症的時候，我們到底談的是甚麼。

There's no agreed upon definition and there's no agreement right now about what are the key features.

現在對於定義沒有一致的意見，現在對關鍵特徵也沒有共識。

You don't want to cast the criteria so wide that it would fit everyone.

你不會想把準則訂得太寬，不然所有人都會適用。

Because then it's not something that's different and uncommon and impairing.”

因為那樣就不會有不同、罕見與受損的事物。

For me, hearing sounds I dislike isn't impairing.

對我來說，聽到我不喜歡的聲音不會讓我受傷害。

And this is an important distinction – sure we all get annoyed from time to time, but it's mostly trivial.

這就是一個重要的區別 —— 當然偶爾我們全都會感到煩躁，但大部分都是微不足道的。

For people with misophonia the sounds that trigger them are distressful.

對有恐聲症的人來說，這些觸發恐聲症的聲音令他們感到非常痛苦。

“But if I hear a low sound that I really don't like, low vibrational sounds really

「但如果我聽到一個真的很不喜歡的低沉聲音，低沉震動的聲音非常困擾我，

bother me, but they bother me in my chest.

也會讓我的胸腔感到不舒服。

I feel them very strongly and it makes me feel like I can't breathe.

我覺得那些聲音非常強烈，會讓我感到無法呼吸。

The low sound definitely I feel like I gotta leave wherever I am.”

那樣的低沉聲音讓我無論身在何處都要離開。」

“We need to convince people this is actually a thing.

「我們需要說服人們真的要把它當一回事。

So a lot more research needs to happen into what exactly is happening to the people who said they have misophonia when they experienced it.”

所以需要有大量研究了解當那些宣稱患有恐聲症的人經歷痛苦的時候，他們確切究竟發生甚麼事。」

So consider that feeling you get when sounds annoy you – it's probably pleasant compared to the strong reactions that people with misophonia have.

所以想想當聲音惱怒你時的感覺 — 跟恐聲症患者的強烈反應比起來或許會感到快樂一點。

Just recognising that this kind of sound sensitivity exists and funding more research will help

只要確認這樣的聲音敏感性存在，並投資更多研究就能幫助我們

us figure out why people have misophonia and the best ways to treat it.

理解為什麼人們會有恐聲症，還有最佳的治療方法。

And...

還有 ...

I probably should be nicer to my Mum.

我應該對我媽好一點。

For more on sound sensitivity disorders and specifically treating them, check out Ali's

了解更多聲音敏感症還有專門的治療方法，去看看 Ali 的頻道，

channel The Psych Show – it's great.

The Psych Show — 真的很棒。

I did say that before.

我前面有說過。

But still, you should subscribe.

但還是要再說一次，你應該要訂閱。

And I first heard about Molly's Misophonia on Mike Rugnetta's podcast Reasonably Sound

而我第一次聽到 Molly 的恐聲症是在 Mike Rugnetta 的播客，Reasonably Sound —

– also recommend, there's a link in the description.

也很推薦，在資訊欄有連結。

And one more thing…

還有一件事 ...

Hi, Vanessa wanted me to tell you all that now she has hats for sale.

嗨，Vanessa 要我告訴你們，現在她有些帽子上架了。

You can buy these hats at DFTBA.com/braincraft

你可以在 DFTBA.com/braincraft 買到。

And you can wear them anyway you want!

而且你想怎麼搭都行！