====== Grima (chalkboard scrapes etc) ======

Certain sounds  - a famous example being the sound of fingernails scraping a chalkboard - illicit strong feelings of discomfort, and even  repulsion, in most people from most cultures across the world.

(In Spanish it's called //'Grima'// , but there's no equivalent word in English)

The effect is so universal that it's thought to be an innate ('hard-wired') response of some kind - possibly linked to feelings of [[content:psychology:general:disgust]].

Experiments have shown that such sounds can trigger the body's 'fight or flight' response - which acts as a primary self-defense mechanism

Note that because it's so prevalent and widespread, it's not thought of as a 'phobia' as such (see //Misphonia// link below )

There's currently no agreed explanation as to why this Grima effect exists, or what possible evolutionary advantages (if any) it may have (or have had in the past).

Possible (though unproven) theories include the ideas that the sounds may mimic harsh warning calls of our distant primate ancestors, or that the noises painfully overstimulate the mechanics and/or the psycho-acoustic pathways of the inner ear.

Further reading : [[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5289974/|Grima: A Distinct Emotion Concept?]], //Frontiers in Psychology// 2017; 8: 131.

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Also see : [[content:medicine:diseases:m-q:misophonia]]