Catie Burnell
Mr. Ippolito
Core Biology Honors
February 9, 2017
The article “Misophonia Sufferers: Scientists May Have Found the Root of Your Pain” by Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura gives readers a very interesting insight into psychobiology. The article, published earlier this month, details the findings of a study conducted by neuroscientists at Britain’s Newcastle University. Misophonia, which nearly 200,000 Americans suffer from, is “a mysterious affliction in which seemingly harmless sounds unleash anger, anxiety, and, in some cases, panic attacks in some people.” The study, headed by Dr. Sukhbinder Kumar, produced some fascinating results. Brain scans done on those with misophonia found that sounds that trigger one’s misophonia, such as chewing, put the anterior insular cortex - the part of the brain controlling emotions - into overdrive. Additionally, in sufferers of misophonia, the study showed that the anterior insular cortex was connected to the amygdala and hippocampus - regions of the brain that control memory - differently than in those unaffected by the disorder. Dr. Kumar stated that “We [the research team] think that misophonia may be heavily connected to recalling past memories, because people with misophonia have had very bad experiences… When they hear these sounds, it’s like their attention is completely absorbed by the sounds, and they can’t do anything else… They’re triggering a recall.” To obtain these findings, “the team used an M.R.I. to measure the brain activities of 42 people with and without misophonia while they were listening to a range of noises,” including rain, a baby crying, and eating and drinking sounds. Sounds related to chewing and drinking caused the most anger and anxiety amongst subjects with misophonia. The study, which involved almost 200 research subjects, also found that the average age in which sufferers are first aware of their misophonia is twelve.
The findings detailed in this article may indicate some relief for those suffering with misophonia, such as Olana Tansley-Hancock, a twenty-nine-year-old woman from Kent, England who was interviewed about her struggles with misophonia: “I can only describe it as a feeling of wanting to punch people in the face when I heard the noise of them eating.” The team behind this research hopes that their findings can lead to treatments for misophonia to be found in the future, such as neuro-feedback. Additionally, the findings produced by the study validate misophonia as a mental disorder, which comes as a great relief to its sufferers.
Freytas-Tamura’s article is very well-written and understandable. For someone who is not familiar with misophonia, the author made it very easy for me to understand the terms they used and fully comprehend the article as a whole. However, I think it would have been quite beneficial for the author to have some more details on the findings from this groundbreaking study, as very little research on misophonia has been conducted in the past and I would have liked some more information on the specific effects misophonia may have on a person. Overall, though, this article was comprehensive and fascinating to read.
Freytas-Tamura, Kimiko De. "Misophonia Sufferers: Scientists May Have Found the Root of Your Pain." The New York Times. The New York Times, 3 Feb. 2017. Web. 6 Feb. 2017.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/03/health/sounds-people-hate.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=10&pgtype=sectionfront
In Caties current event about “Misophonia Sufferers: Scientists May Have Found the Root of Your Pain,” she talks about misophonia, and a study scientists have conducted to help fight the disease. One interesting thing I found was the condition itself! I never knew about this condition and it was interesting to hear about it. I also found that people don't know they have this disease until they are about twelve. I thought this was interesting because maybe before they are twelve, we can research into how to prevent this from developing. Lastly, It was interesting when they said they found where the condition forms in the brain, which could be another step at stopping this from happening.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that I felt the reader could have improved upon, was the actual research they conducted. They did a great job at explaining the condition, but didn't fully explain their research. I also thought that in general they could've made it more detailed. Overall, they language they used kept me in focus and conveyed the point nicely.
Lastly, this article helped me realise that 200,000 people suffer from misophonia. Since this is a new condition they have only started research in, I think it's important that we do more research into this to help this 200,000 people.
great job catie !!
Sarah Goodell
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Core Bio: Current Event Comment #2
6 February, 2017
Freytas-Tamura, Kimiko De. "Misophonia Sufferers: Scientists May Have Found the Root of Your Pain." The New York Times. The New York Times, 3 Feb. 2017. Web. 6 Feb. 2017.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/03/health/sounds-people-hate.html?
Catie Burnell, a student in our Core Bio class, wrote a current event report on misophonia last week. The article she chose is called “Misophonia Sufferers: Scientists May Have Found the Root of Your Pain” by Kimiko De Freytas-Tamura from the New York Times. This article discusses scans that scientists have done on the brains of those who suffer from misophonia, recently deemed a mental illness. They believe that they have “found the root of [their] pain;” memories could be the factor that triggers the brain to react in drastic ways to ordinary sounds. Depending on your past, you may react to certain sounds in different ways. In her report, Catie did a wonderful job of describing misophonia and the research that was done by scientists at Britain’s Newcastle University. She also set-up the information from the experiments and scans with background facts from her article. This allows her readers to have a steady foundation and good understanding of this illness, in order to continue reading her review. Another part that Catie did well was how she used direct quotes from a sufferer of misophonia. She writes about how “Olana Tansley-Hancock, a twenty-nine-year-old woman from Kent, England who was interviewed about her struggles with misophonia” says “‘I can only describe it as a feeling of wanting to punch people in the face when I heard the noise of them eating.’” Catie provides us with a first-hand account of misophonia and what it is like to suffer under this illness. As a final piece from her report, Catie also quotes and uses information from the scientists and researchers in her article. Hearing the facts and data straight from the scientists focusing on misophonia themselves allows her readers to be convinced of Catie’s research, as well. These quotes also help to enhance her report and the data that was found by these scientists. After reading this article, we are convinced of the credibility of Catie’s sources.
On the other hand, Catie could have done a better job describing the origins of misophonia. Throughout the article, I was wondering how misophonia begins. Although she does mention that it is a mental illness and derives from painful memories and experiences, I was still unsure about how people gain this illness. Specifically, I wondered if this illness has anything to do with a person’s DNA or is simply from personal experience in a person’s lifetime. Maybe there will be further research that is done that can help prove the origins of this illness. Catie could have done a bit more research on this topic in order to help supply more information on this point. She also could have given us more direct information on the purpose of these findings. I feel that Catie did not provide sufficient enough facts on how this data has changed anything about this illness. I wish that she had addressed how these findings will develop the future of misophonia. In her last paragraph, Catie acknowledges the lack of information about these scientists’ research and the lack of data that was included from their experiments in her current event article. Despite these points, Catie did write an incredible report.
From Catie’s review, I have learned about the importance of scientific research and the cruciality of developments on mental illnesses. Before reading her report, I had never heard of misophonia, but now, I am prepared to address this developing issue in our world. I am still wondering about how this will affect our future and I am also wondering about how long misophonia has been affecting the lives of those on our planet. Catie’s insight has made me want to take actions to find cures and prevention for mental illnesses. I chose Catie’s review because I have never heard about misophonia and I decided that I would like to learn about an illness that is new to me, and is affecting those around me, in my own societies.
ReplyDeleteSusie Goodell
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Core Biology
2/9/17
Freytas-Tamura, Kimiko De. "Misophonia Sufferers: Scientists May Have Found the Root of Your Pain." The New York Times. The New York Times, 3 Feb. 2017. Web. 6 Feb. 2017.
My classmate Catie wrote a beautiful review on the article “Misophonia Sufferers: Scientists May Have Found the Root of Your Pain” by Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura. Catie gives a very detailed summary of the article and the facts the author includes. This helps the readers who aren’t familiar with the disease understand misophonia and what was just discovered about it. She includes details about the experiment that occurred. She also puts quotes from the article in her review, which work really well in her summary and make it easier for the reader to understand the process that was used to find the results. The quotes were from people who suffer from misophonia and the researchers who worked on this project. We can begin to grasp how hard it is to live with this disease and what the process of researching it is. Catie includes the results of the lab and how it can help the victims of the disease. The readers understand how important this experiment is to the people who have misophonia. Catie did an excellent job making sure the reader is able to understand the problem, the experiment, and the impact it will have.
One thing that can be improved is taking out some of the summary of the article. She includes many details that are helpful in understanding the facts, but they aren’t all necessary to grasp the article’s contents. Catie also should’ve reviewed the article more, not just summarized it. She only has one compound sentence on the problems with this article, but the reader still doesn’t understand what could be adjusted for a better understanding. She says, “However, I think it would have been quite beneficial for the author to have some more details on the findings from this groundbreaking study, as very little research on misophonia has been conducted in the past and I would have liked some more information on the specific effects misophonia may have on a person.” She should add more critique of the writing and format of the article. Her current events ended up being somewhat of a summary instead of a review.
I had never heard about the disease misophonia before reading this review. It was extremely interesting to learn about the effects of this disease and the causes of the reactions. I can see how difficult it must be to live with misophonia. Many diseases don’t get the attention they deserve and people don’t understand how the victims suffer. I want to learn more about the many unheard of diseases and try to spread awareness of them.
Caroline Brashear
ReplyDeleteMr. Ippolito
Bio IH D Odd
2/8/17
Freytas-Tamura, Kimiko De. "Misophonia Sufferers: Scientists May Have Found the Root of Your Pain." The New York Times. The New York Times, 3 Feb. 2017. Web. 6 Feb. 2017.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/03/health/sounds-people-hate.html?
This review on an article about the mental disorder, misophonia, written by Catie Burnell, was well-done. One aspect of her review that made it flow nicely was her appropriate use of quotes from the article. Towards the beginning of her first paragraph, she used a quote that explains what misophonia is, which is beneficial to the understanding of the reader. She later used another quote directly stated by the research team conducting a study on misophonia, which added an inside perspective to her review and enriched the information in her summary. Another aspect that made Catie’s review strong was that her writing was overall well organized and easy for the reader to follow. For example, she starts with a broad introduction, and then gets more specific into the topic, followed by a well-written summary in her first paragraph. Lastly, I liked how she added depth to her information by talking about how this mental disorder triggered activity in certain parts of the brain.
Catie’s review was well-executed for the most part, but there are some areas that she could improve on. Although it was good that she included information about different parts of the brain, such as the “anterior insular cortex” and “amygdala and hippocampus,” she should have defined the different parts so the information had more value to the reader. Additionally, she could have condensed her summary paragraph because it does include a lot of good information, but it loses the reader's attention and makes the central claim of the article slightly unclear. Finally, she could have improved her review by talking more about the relevance of the article and the impact of this newfound information on society so that the reader can understand the significance and why she chose to write about it.
This topic was a fascinating learning experience for me, because I have never heard of a mental disorder like this one. It is also interesting that once misophonia was validated, it’s sufferers were relieved and they have more of a sense of awareness of what’s going on in their minds. I now also have a new understanding of scientific research in general because it occasionally slips my mind that new things about the human body are being discovered all the time, and there is still so much more to explore.