We are excited to share our new publication in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. This is the first review to systematically compare the neurobiological underpinnings of misophonia and tinnitus. These are two debilitating auditory conditions that exact a significant toll on social functioning and mental health.

Although often studied in isolation, both disorders share striking neurobiological features, including hyperactivity in auditory-limbic circuits, heightened functional connectivity between the auditory cortex and the amygdala, and pronounced autonomic dysregulation.

In this review, we provide the first systematic comparison of the neurobiological underpinnings of misophonia and tinnitus. Drawing on genetic, neuroimaging, autonomic, and psychological evidence, we identify key commonalities, including overlapping genetic risk factors and shared patterns of auditory-limbic hyperconnectivity driven by neuroplasticity, while also clarifying the features that distinguish the two conditions. A central distinction is that misophonia is elicited by specific external sounds, whereas tinnitus arises from internally generated phantom percepts.

To integrate these findings, we propose the Sensory–Salience Dysregulation Model, a unified neurobiological framework describing how aberrant sensory encoding, salience network overactivation, and autonomic dysregulation converge in both disorders. This model provides a conceptual foundation for cross-diagnostic research and points toward therapeutic strategies targeting shared auditory-limbic pathways.

We also highlight critical gaps in the field, including the lack of standardized diagnostic criteria and understudied gene-environment interactions, and call for a more integrated research agenda that can accelerate progress for both conditions.

To read the full article, please visit: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763426000394?via%3Dihub