Misophonia, Autistic Traits, and Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms in Migraine: A Controlled Comparative Study

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Psychiatry
• Sensory Processing Disorders

Background:

• Misophonia, a disorder characterized by distress in response to specific sounds, and migraine are common in adolescents.
• The co-occurrence and shared underlying mechanisms of misophonia and migraine remain underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate misophonia severity and triggers in adolescents with migraine compared to controls.
• To examine the association of misophonia with autistic traits and obsessive-compulsive symptoms in adolescents with and without migraine.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional case-control study involving 80 adolescents (40 with migraine, 40 controls) aged 15-18 years.
• Participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing misophonia (AMISOS-R), obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCI-CV), and autistic traits (ASSQ-TR).

Main Results:

• Adolescents with migraine exhibited significantly higher misophonia severity and prevalence than controls.
• Repetitive clicking and ambient sounds were more frequent triggers in the migraine group.
• Higher autistic trait scores were observed in the migraine group, with migraine status, female sex, and autistic traits predicting misophonia severity.

Conclusions:

• Misophonia is more prevalent and severe in adolescents with migraine, linked to headache intensity and autistic traits.
• Findings suggest misophonia may be a sensory feature of adolescent migraine.
• Further longitudinal research is needed to understand shared sensory processing pathways between migraine and misophonia.