--- title: If You're Annoyed by Noisy Eating, It May Be Harder to Learn description: People who are bothered by the sound of noisy eating—a condition called misophonia—may have difficulty learning when someone is chewing gum. canonical: https://time.com/5135231/misophonia-chewing-sounds/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-14T13:00:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T22:17:29.000Z article:section: Health og:title: Bothered By Noisy Eating? It May Affect Your Ability to Learn og:description: According to a new study og:url: https://time.com/5135231/misophonia-chewing-sounds/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc7a1c6f1e8f7a38e/6989276e096a942c7f6a17c1/chewing-gum-bubble.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: chewing-gum-bubble og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bothered By Noisy Eating? It May Affect Your Ability to Learn twitter:description: According to a new study twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc7a1c6f1e8f7a38e/6989276e096a942c7f6a17c1/chewing-gum-bubble.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bothered By Noisy Eating? It May Affect Your Ability to Learn  by [Jamie Ducharme](/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Updated: Dec 12, 2023 10:17 PM CUTPublished: Feb 14, 2018 1:00 PM CUT  Person doing bubble with chewing gum on bright background Person doing bubble with chewing gum on bright backgroundGetty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Updated: Dec 12, 2023 10:17 PM CUTPublished: Feb 14, 2018 1:00 PM CUT If you’re bothered by the sounds of other people chewing, your pet peeve may wreck more than mealtime. In [a new study published in the journal _Applied Cognitive Psychology_](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/acp.3387/abstract?campaign=wolearlyview "undefined"), researchers set out to determine how [misophonia](http://time.com/4659308/misophonia-noisy-eating-science/ "undefined") — extreme sensitivity to the sound of people chewing, coughing or eating — affects learning. They found that people who said they were sensitive to these sounds had a harder time mastering and retaining information when they could hear a person chewing gum, suggesting that misophonia has an impact on academic performance. “Some people are [especially sensitive](http://time.com/3746331/certain-noises-misophonia/ "undefined") to relatively subtle specific background sounds like chewing, and this sensitivity can be distracting enough to impair learning,” wrote study co-author Logan Fiorella, an assistant professor of applied cognition and development at the University of Georgia, in an email to TIME. Fiorella co-authored the study with Amanda Seaborne, who at the time was an undergraduate researcher in the University of California Santa Barbara’s department of psychological and brain sciences. In the study, 72 college undergraduates were given six minutes to study information about migraines, after which they were tested on the material. Everyone was randomly sorted into one of two groups: the first group studied in silence, while in the second group, a decoy student planted by the researchers audibly chewed gum. All of the students took the comprehension test in silence, then answered questions about their own sensitivity to misophonia. Both groups performed about equally as well on the tests — but when the researchers looked only at students who said they were bothered by trigger sounds, a clear pattern emerged. Sound-sensitive students who were in the gum-chewing group did slightly worse on the quiz than those who weren’t affected by misophonia, while sensitive students in the quiet group performed slightly better. **MORE**: [Does the Sound of Noisy Eating Drive You Mad? Here’s Why](http://time.com/4659308/misophonia-noisy-eating-science/ "undefined") The researchers didn’t look at whether hearing distracting sounds during the testing phase affected performance, but other research suggests they make a bigger difference during the learning period, Fiorella says. He also notes that none of the students in the study, even those who said they were annoyed by eating noises, had clinically severe misophonia, which can be quite disruptive to those who suffer from it and may require specific misophonia treatments, such as cognitive behavioral therapy. “It may be especially important for students with higher levels of misophonia sensitivity to avoid studying in places where there are a lot of ‘trigger’ sounds, such as other people chewing, coughing, clicking pens, or rustling papers,” Fiorella says. “When that’s unavoidable, some strategies suggested by other researchers include using earplugs, focusing on one’s own sounds, or using positive internal dialogue.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5135231/misophonia-chewing-sounds/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5135231/misophonia-chewing-sounds/"},"headline":"Bothered By Noisy Eating? 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