LeDoux Lab Findings (January 2017)

Joseph LeDoux and Lorenzo Diaz-Mataix
NYU at the LeDoux Lab

Summary: “… Dr. LeDoux and Dr. Lorenzo Díaz-Mataix are studying two parts of the amygdala in order to see where the problem may arise in regard to auditory over-responsivity, or misophonia.

The lateral amygdala is the part of the brain structure where the auditory (or other sensory information) comes in and the central amygdala is the part where signals are sent that send the message “go or no go” for fight flight. One of the roles of central amygdala is to mediate valence (positive or negative assignment) to sensory information…”

Initial Findings: “Results show that extreme-responders are least likely to “un-learn” the association between noxious stimuli and the physiological response (or fight/flight). However, this is a scientific experiment helps supports:

* That the misophonia symptoms are truly due to physiological phenomena (i.e. if you can see it rodents who don’t “think” as we do, then we have more evidence that this is not a “psychological problem”

* If “extreme-responders” are similar to those of us with misophonia and are unable to “unlearn” an associated response between stimuli and an event, then simple exposure therapy is highly unlikely to work

* Given this information, memory reconsolidation, which is working for people with phobias in new trials, may be a promising remediation for misophonia symptoms”