Scientists have rated the most nasty sounds in the world
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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In a study published today in the journal Neuroscience, scientists from the University of Newcastle discovered the process of interaction between the brain region that processes sound, the auditory cortex and tonsils, which takes an active part in developing negative emotions when we hear unpleasant sounds.
To find out which sound causes the most irritation and negative reaction in people, experts attracted to the experiment 13 volunteers, on which 74 sounds were tested.
Experts told the participants that they will have to listen to unpleasant sounds in the MRI scanner to fix the brain reaction. The external reaction of the experimental subjects was also taken into account.
Before scientists was the task to exclude all possible associations with sounds, for example, those reactions that cause a person crying a child or the sound of vomiting. Therefore, similar sounds were not used during the study.
As a result, it turned out that the most unpleasant are high-frequency sounds in the range from 2000 to 5000 Hz. Their man suffers with great difficulty. It was this that made a scrape on the glass.
Also did not cause pleasant emotions and the sound of a chalk slithering over the board.
Also, specialists found out how brain processes occur when a person hears unpleasant sounds. As it turned out, the negative reaction we are experiencing is due to the activity of the brain, which sends signals to the cerebellar amygdala.
According to the researchers, this reaction is similar to a signal that notifies the brain of a possible danger.
"If we can better understand how our brain reacts to unpleasant sounds, then this will be a great step forward in studying the hypersensitivity of some people to unpleasant sounds and noises. And this has a direct relationship to migraines, in which a person is very hard to tolerate harsh sounds, misofonia - a disease of intolerance to noise, as well as tinnitus - a disease in which a person hears a buzz in the ears.
You can admire the list of the most unpleasant for the human ear sounds:
- The knife of the knife on the glass
- Chalk making a whistling sound about the board
- Fingernails scratching board
- Female scream
- Brake squeal
- Sound of an electric drill
- Thunder
- Flowing water
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