Completed Acoustic Stimulation Paired With Body and Cortical Stimulation for Modulating Tinnitus

Tinnitus Talk submitted a new resource:

Acoustic Stimulation Paired With Body and Cortical Stimulation for Modulating Tinnitus - To investigate stimulation parameters for modulating the brain to decrease tinnitus perception.

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Hi all--this is a study that I found yesterday. I received a response from the main researcher who is doing the study and is likely to start recruiting in February. I'm lucky because I live in Minneapolis, where the study will take place (and where I went to college and where my wife works...!) and this study looks interesting because of the link to cortical stimulation, which is sometimes used to treat epilepsy. And based on the Trobalt / AUT63 noise, that seems like a good starting point...(Somebody who is much more well-versed than me in cortical stimulation can confirm or deny whether or not I am on the right track here.)

Here is Dr. Hubert Lim's bio as well.

 

I saw a video last night TED a multi topic talk media .Two neuro doctors we're using electro-stimulus in parts of the brain to cure symptoms of varies conditions .There is a part of the brain that has been very suspect in the cause of tinnitus .The part of the brain is called Nucleus Accumbens it regulates what is important and what is not important as tinnitus should not be important and treated as a non threat the Nucleus Accumbens treats the sounds of T as important ,bringing it to our consciousness .If they could stimulate this area of the brain mabe it could stop tinnitus.

 

Just an update on this--the researcher contacted me yesterday and said they will begin recruiting participants in mid-March. They just got the last piece of equipment that they needed this past week. He will reach out to me so, assuming that I am a participant, I will let you know what happens.

 

Update:

Attached is the flyer for this study. They have officially begun to start recruiting.

Expect a Q&A with Dr. Lim in mid-July.

 

Where's the trial based?

 

It is in Minneapolis, MN.

 

Ah, shame.

 

I'll let you all know how it goes--the idea of it is if they are able to modulate tinnitus at all using the different trigger parts on my body that they may be able to create a device that reduces the tinnitus percept. I'll be putting a Q&A together with Dr. Lim who will certainly have more depth of knowledge to share with all.

 

Update: went for my first day of the study today, which was just filling out paperwork and doing a Tinnitus Reaction Questionnaire. Will do some testing (audiogram, tinnitus loudness, tinnitus tone matching) next time, then onto the actual testing. They are hopeful that their modulation will do "something" for sessions 3-12, then may move on to TMS for sessions 13-16.

Came away with a $40 Visa gift card for filling out some paperwork and will take home $60 gift cards for the remaining sessions, up to 16. Thinking this extra $$$ can come in handy for buying Timberwolves seasons tickets this year...

 

If only this was in England...Grrrrr

 

So I was unfortunately "denied" entry to this study. I guess the good news is that they deemed my tinnitus to be too mild to participate. Alas...

I'd still recommend anybody within earshot of Minneapolis, MN to contact them. (@just1morething & @Richard Wallace I'm thinking of you two.) The study researchers are incredibly nice and funny and I got a great vibe from them. And their research seems like it is on the right track. And just for participating in step 1, you get paid $40. My initial study was just filling out a questionnaire and talking to one of the study conductors for 20 minutes or so.

I am still planning to follow up with Dr. Lim to get a Q&A here--and I shared with them the TMS article that we have been discussing in the other forum. So there are other ways to participate here.

Best wishes to all!

 

I will try contacting them. Thanks! @marqualler

 

Thank you for keeping us posted on this study....would love for one to open up in the New York area.

 

I contacted them via email and have to complete some forms to send back to the Univ. of MN, Jennifer Wittman, mSync Researcher.

 

I spoke with one of the researchers for this study yesterday. You say you were denied because your tinnitus is too mild...I'm concerned they'll tell me the same thing! Mine is pretty mild, but I work in a super quiet office environment so I can hear it pretty much 100% of the time when we're in meetings and discussions.

 

Did you get accepted to the study??

 

Anyone accepted to this?

 

I'm participating in something very, very similar -- but I don't think it's the exact same study here.

 

Keep us updated! Hope it goes well!

 

Even if we can't participate, I'm sure we all hope it brings an effective treatment or even a cure much closer! Sounds like a good study! I'm too far away and I have had my tinnitus for about five years.

 

This an interersting approach. Subscribed to this thread. Keep us all posted!

 

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02283216?term=tinnitus&recr=Open&rank=19

Any word on this study?

 

I found this text about this study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24110389
Results still expected: May 2018.

A new concept for noninvasive tinnitus treatment utilizing multimodal pathways.
Gloeckner CD, Smith BT, Markovitz CD, Lim HH.

Abstract
Current noninvasive treatments for tinnitus have shown mixed results. There have been encouraging developments in using invasive brain or vagal nerve stimulation to modulate neural populations driving the tinnitus percept. However, these invasive treatments can only be used in a small patient population with severe conditions. In this preliminary study, we present a new treatment option we call Multimodal Synchronization Therapy (MST), which attempts to achieve synchronized and localized brain activation without invasive neural stimulation. MST combines multiple sensory, motor, limbic, and cognitive inputs to elicit activation of multimodal neurons to potentially modulate specific neurons driving the tinnitus percept. We present preliminary data in a guinea pig model showing activation of somatosensory and auditory pathways to alter neural activity within the inferior colliculus, a multimodal integration region that has shown pathological changes in animals and patients with tinnitus. Electrical stimulation of different body locations induced excitatory responses in the inferior colliculus, eliciting responses in up to 41% of all recording sites for a given somatic site. Paired somatic and acoustic stimulation resulted in enhanced or suppressed acoustic-driven neural activity in the inferior colliculus that varied depending on stimulation and recording location. Similar modulation effects were observed in the auditory cortex, which may relate to changes in auditory perception. Further studies need to incorporate multiple multimodal pathways and must also confirm that MST can suppress the abnormal neural patterns that directly drive the tinnitus percept.

 

Promising, but some way off still. And the big question of course is, will success in Guinea pigs translate to humans?