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Scientists have ranked the world's nastiest sounds
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
In a study published today in the journal Neuroscience, scientists from Newcastle University have uncovered interactions between the area of the brain that processes sound, the auditory cortex, and the amygdala, which is heavily involved in generating negative emotions when we hear unpleasant sounds.
To find out which sound causes the greatest irritation and negative reaction in people, experts recruited 13 volunteers for the experiment, on whom they tested the effects of 74 sounds.
The experts told the participants that they would have to listen to unpleasant sounds in an MRI scanner in order to record the brain's reaction. The subjects' external reactions were also taken into account.
The scientists were tasked with eliminating all possible associations with sounds, such as the reactions that a child's cry or the sounds of vomiting evoke in a person. Therefore, such sounds were not used in the study.
As a result, it turned out that the most unpleasant are high-frequency sounds in the range from 2000 to 5000 Hz. A person tolerates them with great difficulty. This is exactly what the scratching on glass turned out to be.
The sound of chalk sliding across the board also did not evoke pleasant emotions.
Experts also found out how brain processes occur when a person hears unpleasant sounds. As it turned out, the negative reaction we experience is caused by the activity of the brain, which sends signals to the amygdala.
According to the researchers, this reaction is similar to a signal that alerts the brain to possible danger.
"If we can better understand how our brain reacts to unpleasant sounds, it will be a big step forward in studying the hypersensitivity of some people to unpleasant sounds and noises. And this is directly related to migraines, in which a person has a very hard time tolerating sharp sounds, misophonia - a disease of intolerance to noise, and tinnitus - a disease in which a person hears noise in the ears.
You can admire the list of the most unpleasant sounds for the human ear:
- The sound of a knife scraping on glass
- Chalk that makes a hissing sound on a blackboard
- Nails scratching the board
- Female scream
- Squealing brakes
- The sound of an electric drill
- Thunder
- Flowing water
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