A bitter account of living with misophonia, sensory scientists develop a taste test that can measure sensitivity in preschoolers, and different brain areas have been identified as critical in temporal processing

July 19, 2018August 2, 2018

“Misophonia is a troublesome disorder. My sensory issues go far beyond the grasp of sights and sounds. I feel it every time I touch water that is too hothaving a high degree of heat or a high temperature or cold. I feel it when velvet touches my skin and makes me cringe. If I step out into the hot summer heat after my blissfully air-conditioned atmosphere I can feel the hold on my body. All of my senses are subject to sensory overload and under-load. If I do too much I feel my body pull out from under me. My back crumbles under the pressure.”

— Shaylynn Hayes (2018) What It’s Like Living With Misophonia

Misophonia means literally the “hatred of sound” and is a relatively new semi-recognized psychological condition in which negative emotions, thoughts, or physical reactions are triggered by specific sounds like chewing, crunching, or tapping. If you, or someone you know, find themselves debilitated by this, there are organizations and people that can help.

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Halcyon Entrancement

From the Maker:

“Immersive experiences seek to engage the full sensory system in ways that words, pictures, or touch alone cannot. With respect to the haptic system, however, physical feedback has been provided primarily with handheld tactile experiences or vibration-based designs, largely ignoring both pressure receptors and the full upper-body area as conduits for expressing meaning that is consistent with sight and sound. We extend the potential for immersion along these dimensions with the Force Jacket, a novel array of pneumatically-actuated airbags and force sensors that provide precisely directed force and high frequency vibrations to the upper body. We describe the pneumatic hardware and force control algorithms, user studies to verify perception of airbag location and pressure magnitude, and subsequent studies to define full-torso, pressure and vibration-based feel effects such as punch, hug, and snake moving across the body. We also discuss the use of those effects in prototype virtual reality applications.”

DisneyResearchHub (2018) Force Jacket: Pneumatically-Actuated Jacket for Embodied. Retrieved from Youtube, https://youtu.be/5BOFHEow608.

From the Maker:

“Valérie Lengard Almli taks about a new method to measure the sense of taste in small children.”

European Sensory Network (2018) The magic water test – measuring taste in pre-schoolers. Interview with Valérie Lengard Almli. Retrieved from Youtube, https://youtu.be/8fPBI9Vdxk4.

Chuckles

If you have some form of misophonia, this video is sure to set it off…

MosoGourmet (2013) How to make Balloon Chocolate Bowls. Retrieved from Youtube, https://youtu.be/k71g_GojFQ0.

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http://lodgingmagazine.com/ppg-names-2019-color-year-nigh-watch/

http://www.cantonrep.com/news/20180702/louisville-library-nears-completion-of-sensory-space

https://thedabblingspeechie.com/2018/07/the-very-hungry-caterpillar-in-speech-therapy/

https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/sensory-sensitivity-may-share-genetic-roots-autism/

https://futurism.com/disney-vr-jacket-simulate-hug-snakes/

https://sensoryspectrum.com/blog/2018/03/05/the-weird-way-your-mug-can-affect-how-your-coffee-tastes/

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-28673-7

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ease-the-anxiety-of-back-to-school_b_7882720.html

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/misophonia-and-rare-disorders-living-without-diagnosis_us_578ccb51e4b0cbf01ea03f59

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-28673-7

https://www.esn-network.com/news/single-view/article/new-study-capturing-taste-in-time/

https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2013/07/107316/breakthrough-study-reveals-biological-basis-sensory-processing-disorders-kidsi