Scientists, including Olana, at multiple centres in the UK scanned the brains of 20 misophonic people and 22 people without the condition.
They were played a range of noises while they were in the MRI machine, including:
- neutral sounds such as rain
- generally unpleasant sounds such as screaming
- people's trigger sounds
The results,
published in the journal Current Biology, revealed the part of the brain that joins our senses with our emotions - the anterior insular cortex - was overly active in misophonia.
And it was wired up and connected to other parts of the brain differently in those with misophonia.
Dr Sukhbinder Kumar, from Newcastle University, told BBC News: "They are going into overdrive when they hear these sounds, but the activity was specific to the trigger sounds not the other two sounds.
"The reaction is anger mostly, it's not disgust, the dominating emotion is the anger - it looks like a normal response, but then it is going into overdrive."
There are no treatments, but Olana has developed coping mechanisms such as using ear plugs.
She also knows caffeine and alcohol make the condition worse, "which is rubbish".
"But I have a relatively mild case and am still able to have a job, I know a lot of people who aren't able to have that, I feel quite fortunate really," she said.
It is still not clear how common the disorder is, as there is no clear way of diagnosing it and it was only recently discovered.
Ultimately, the researchers hope, understanding the difference in the misophonic brain will lead to new treatments.
