--- title: Misophonia: Why Noisy Eating Can be so Anger-Inducing description: Those with misophonia - a hatred of sounds such as eating and chewing - have a difference in their brain's frontal lobe to non-sufferers canonical: https://time.com/4659308/misophonia-noisy-eating-science/ author: Kate Samuelson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-03T13:47:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T07:15:38.605Z article:section: Health og:title: Why the Sound of Noisy Eating Can Make Some People so Angry og:description: Misophonia - a hatred of sounds such as loud eating and chewing - is real og:url: https://time.com/4659308/misophonia-noisy-eating-science/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfdab52acb30bdf66/6988b8accf40a803b7c46550/loud-chewing-scientistis.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Man eating fruit og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why the Sound of Noisy Eating Can Make Some People so Angry twitter:description: Misophonia - a hatred of sounds such as loud eating and chewing - is real twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfdab52acb30bdf66/6988b8accf40a803b7c46550/loud-chewing-scientistis.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Does the Sound of Noisy Eating Drive You Mad? Here's Why > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=175e6006-cacd-46f6-b987-e044c74f52b0&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Does the Sound of Noisy Eating Drive You Mad? Here's Why [Watch (HLS stream): Does the Sound of Noisy Eating Drive You Mad? Here's Why](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Tq2za2Ot.m3u8) (1:14)  _Published 2017-02-03. Misophonia, a disorder which means sufferers have a hatred of sounds such as eating, chewing, loud breathing or even repeated pen-clicking, was first named as a condition in 2001_ by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Feb 3, 2017 1:47 PM UTC by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Feb 3, 2017 1:47 PM UTC If you’ve ever been tempted to confront someone [slurping their soup](http://time.com/4159156/bone-broth-health-benefits/) in a restaurant, or if a person breathing loudly next to you in the movie theater is enough to make your blood boil, then you’re not alone: You’re one of many people suffering from a genuine brain abnormality called misophonia. [Misophonia](http://time.com/3093097/breastfeeding-restaurants/), a disorder which means sufferers have a hatred of sounds such as eating, chewing, loud breathing or even repeated pen-clicking, was first named as a condition in 2001. Over the years, scientists have been skeptical about whether or not it constitutes a genuine medical ailment, but now new research led by a team at the U.K.’s Newcastle University has proven that those with misophonia have a difference in their brain’s frontal lobe to non-sufferers. In an report published in the journal [_Current Biology_](http://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822%2816%2931530-5), scientists said scans of misophobia sufferers found changes in brain activity when a ‘trigger’ sound was heard. Brain imaging revealed that people with the condition have an abnormality in their emotional control mechanism which causes their brains to go into overdrive on hearing trigger sounds. The researchers also found that trigger sounds could evoke a heightened physiological response, with increased heart rate and sweating. For the study, the team used an MRI to measure the brain activity of people with and without misophonia while they were listening to a range of sounds. The sounds were categorized into neutral sounds (rain, a busy café, water boiling), unpleasant sounds (a baby crying, a person screaming) and trigger sounds (the sounds of breathing or eating). When presented with trigger sounds, those with misophonia presented different results to those without the condition. “I hope this will reassure sufferers,” Tim Griffiths, Professor of Cognitive Neurology at Newcastle University and UCL, said in a [press release](http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/news/2017/02/misophonia/). “I was part of the skeptical community myself until we saw patients in the clinic and understood how strikingly similar the features are.” “For many people with misophonia, this will come as welcome news as for the first time we have demonstrated a difference in brain structure and function in sufferers,” Dr Sukhbinder Kumar, from the Institute of Neuroscience at Newcastle University and the Wellcome Centre for NeuroImaging at University College London, added. “This study demonstrates the critical brain changes as further evidence to convince a sceptical medical community that this is a genuine disorder.” ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ]. 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