Research's Attempt to Objectively Assess Tinnitus

Computer-Aided Tinnitus Detection based on Brain Network Analysis of EEG Functional Connectivity
Source: http://www.jbpe.ir/Journal_OJS/JBPE/index.php/jbpe/article/viewFile/937/487
Or see attached file

 

Functional connectivity analysis of fMRI data collected from human subjects with chronic tinnitus and varying levels of tinnitus-related distress
Full text: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352340918312617

 

I postulate that the only answer is regenerative medicine. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

I think this is good news because if you can objectify how to measure tinnitus, you can objectively measure if a treatment is working or not instead of patients saying they "feel better" when it could be the placebo effect.

 

I think I have an objective theory that perfectly assesses and explains tinnitus!!

It's a major pain in the ass.

 

Assessment of the State of the Natural Antioxidant Barrier of a Body in Patients Complaining about the Presence of Tinnitus
Abstract
Background. Tinnitus is defined as a phantom auditory perception, i.e., sound experience despite the lack of acoustic stimuli in the environment. The aim of this study was to assess the state of the natural antioxidant barrier of a body in patients complaining about the presence of tinnitus. Material and Methods. The study included a total of 51 patients aged from 20 to 62 years with diagnosed idiopathic tinnitus and 19 healthy subjects as a control group. All patients underwent the audiometric tone test, speech audiometry, distortion otoacoustic emission product testing, study of evoked auditory potentials of short latency, and biochemical analysis of venous blood concerning values of activity or concentration of glutathione, glutathione peroxidase, S-transferase, glutathione reductase superoxide dismutase, malondialdehyde, and ceruloplasmin as the selected parameters of oxidative stress. Results. Disorders of the auditory pathway were not only limited to the cochlea but also covered its further episodes. Mean values of activity or concentration of the selected parameters of oxidative stress in the study and control groups showed reduced effectiveness of the body’s natural antioxidant barrier. Discussion. Patients complaining about the presence of tinnitus showed reduced effectiveness of the body’s natural antioxidant barrier compared to the control group. Conclusions. The main indication to undertake further research on the functioning of the antioxidant barrier in people suffering from ailments in the form of tinnitus is to determine a suitable therapy aimed at improving the quality of life of these patients, which might be the administration of antioxidant medications.

Source: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/omcl/2018/1439575/

 

A small but yet interesting study

High frequency audiometry in tinnitus patients with normal hearing in conventional audiometry

Context Hearing loss is the most important risk factor of tinnitus, but this relation is not straightforward; some patients with severe tinnitus have normal hearing, whereas many patients with hearing loss do not have tinnitus.
Aims The aim was to determine if high frequency audiometry (HFA) may reveal significant differences between normal hearing participants with and without tinnitus.
Settings and design This is a case–control study.
Participants and methods HFA was done on two groups of participants with normal hearing sensitivity. The first group was composed of 20 adults with tinnitus, whereas the control group was 15 age-matched and sex-matched participants, not suffering from tinnitus.
Statistical analysis Data were analyzed using SPSS software package version 20.0. Significance of the results was judged at the 5% level. χ2 with Fisher’s exact as a correction, Kruskal–Wallis, Mann–Whitney, and Pearson’s coefficient tests were used.
Results HFA showed no significant difference between the two studied groups.
Conclusion Tinnitus in normal hearing participants does not necessarily indicate corresponding damage in the cochlea

Keywords: high frequency audiometry, normal hearing, tinnitus

Source: http://www.ejo.eg.net/article.asp?i...4;issue=4;spage=308;epage=315;aulast=Elmoazen

 

Alterations of the default mode network and cognitive impairment in patients with unilateral chronic tinnitus
Yu-Chen Chen1, Hong Zhang2, Youyong Kong3, Han Lv4, Yuexin Cai5, Huiyou Chen1, Yuan Feng1, Xindao Yin1

1Department of Radiology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210006, China; 2Department of Radiology, The Affiliated Jiangning Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 211100, China; 3School of Computer Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 210018, China; 4Department of Radiology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100071, China; 5Department of Otolaryngology, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China

Correspondence to: Hong Zhang. Department of Radiology, The Affiliated Jiangning Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, No.168 Gushan Road, Nanjing 211100, China. Email: yayiba2063@163.com; Xindao Yin, MD, PhD. Department of Radiology, Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, No.68, Changle Road, Nanjing 210006, China. Email: y.163yy@163.com.
Background: Previous studies have demonstrated that cognitive impairment is linked with neurophysiological alterations in chronic tinnitus. This study aimed to investigate the intrinsic functional connectivity (FC) pattern within the default mode network (DMN) and its associations with cognitive impairment in tinnitus patients using a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI).

Methods: Thirty-five chronic unilateral tinnitus patients, and 50 healthy controls were recruited for rsfMRI scanning. Both groups were age, gender and education level well-matched. The posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) was chosen as the region of interest (ROI) for detecting the FC changes, and determining if these abnormalities were related to a specific cognitive performance and tinnitus characteristic.

Results: Relative to the healthy controls, tinnitus patients showed increased FC between the PCC and the right medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Moreover, the enhanced FC between the PCC and right mPFC was correlated with the poorer TMT-B scores (r=0.474, P=0.008). These correlations were adjusted by age, gender, education level, GM volume, and mean hearing thresholds. The enhanced FC was not correlated with other tinnitus characteristics or cognitive performances.

Conclusions: The enhanced FC pattern of the PCC that is correlated with cognitive impairment in chronic tinnitus patients, especially the executive dysfunction. Enhanced connectivity pattern within the DMN may play a crucial role in neurophysiological mechanism in tinnitus patients with cognitive dysfunction.

Keywords: Chronic tinnitus; functional connectivity (FC); resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI); default mode network (DMN); posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)

Source: http://qims.amegroups.com/article/view/22643/21887

 

Functional neuroimaging in tinnitus Quentin Vermeulen Student number: 01310206 Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Karel Deblaere, Dr. Ann Deklerck A dissertation submitted to Ghent University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Medicine in Medicine Academic year: 2017-2018

 

Objectively measuring tinnitus means reading the human mind.

 

I don't know actually where to put this article since this time the aim of the study is to watch by MRI the effect of a treatment. I understood that the device of rTNS was custome made by the university (no brand).
BOLD fMRI effects of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation in patients with chronic tinnitus

 

Very interesting. With the information in this publication you can start experimenting yourself. A rectangular 500 microsecond 25Hz pulse and 0.1mA. How difficult can it be
Perhaps this will soon be available commercially

 

I don't know if Quantitative Electroencephalography QEEG/LORETA was mentioned in the papers presented in this thread. Watch here:

Functional Brain Imaging and Tinnitus

Video's description on youtube:
Electrophysiology functional brain imaging is the noninvasive imaging of electrical activity of brain function. The EEG Functional brain imaging with the multimetric spectral analysis of Quantitative Electroencephalography and 3-D source localization of Low resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (QEEG/LORETA ) provides: 1) an objective measure and quantification of multiple brain wave electrical frequencies of activity reflective of multiple brain functions in the presence of and response to the tinnitus signal ; 2) clinical translation for an increased accuracy of the tinnitus diagnosis; 3) a rationale for treatment of a particular central type tinnitus ; 4)a monitor function to identify the efficacy of modalities of tinnitus treatment and 5) the identification with QEEG/ LORETA of an electrophysiologic correlate for a predominantly central type tinnitus The identification of Neuroanatomic substrates in brain reflect structure(s) involved in the functional components in brain of all sensations , normal and/or aberrant: sensory, affect, and psychomotor. The QEEG/LORETA electrophysiologic similarities in brain between chronic pain and tinnitus suggest a final common pathway for sensation . The significant brain function is the establishment of a memory for the sensation, norfmal and /o aberrant . QEEG/LORETA brain imaging provides in 2015 a “pictorial image” of the heterogeneity of clinical types and subtypes of tinnitus , manifested in a multiplicity of brain functions , individual for each patient. QEEG/ LORETA brain imaging in the future will replace the “pictorial image” of the tinnitus matrix with a “ normal pictorial image of brain functions with no tinnitus” and result in a “cure” for a particular clinical type and subtype of tinnitus, individual for each tinnitus patient. Take home message: 1.Recommendation in 2015 to Otolaryngology/ tinnitus professionals: include EEG functional brain imaging with the analysis of QEEG and LORETA into the tinnitus evaluation for a clinical predominantly central type subjective idiopathic tinnitus of the severe disabling type 2.The clinical medical significance of the QEEG/LORETA for Tinnitology provides in 2015 the Electroencephalotinnitogram (ETG) , analogous to the Electrocardiogram (EKG) in the 1930s for Cardiology.

 

Objective Measures of Tinnitus
a Systematic Review

Jackson, Richard; Vijendren, Ananth; Phillips, John

Otology & Neurotology: February 2019 - Volume 40 - Issue 2 - p 154–163
doi: 10.1097/MAO.0000000000002116
REVIEW ARTICLES

• Abstract
• Author Information
• Article Metrics

Background: The purpose of this review is to systematically appraise the English-language literature to identify methods of objectively diagnosing and measuring the severity of subjective idiopathic nonpulsatile tinnitus.

Materials and Methods: A systematic literature search was undertaken from the databases of MEDLINE (1946–May 2018), EMBASE (1980–May 2018), CINAHL (1981–May 2018), and BNI (1992–May 2018) according to predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Results: We identified 21 articles in this field. Reported objective tests include blood tests, electrophysiologymeasures, radiological measures, and balance tests. The overall quality of evidence was low, with most studies being low-powered.

Discussion: Our review has not identified any reliable or reproducible objective measures of tinnitus. However, this piece of work has highlighted emerging areas where further high quality research may lead to the development of an effective method for objectively identifying and measuring the severity of tinnitus.

Copyright © 2019 by Otology & Neurotology, Inc. Image copyright © 2010 Wolters Kluwer Health/Anatomical Chart Company

Source: https://journals.lww.com/otology-ne...ive_Measures_of_Tinnitus__a_Systematic.2.aspx

 

The best thread of the forum if you are interested in science and orthodox medicine.

I often wonder how scientists acquire their tinnitus patients and how exactly the inclusion criteria are defined.

So, once again great respect for this thread....

 

Altered spatial and temporal brain connectivity in the salience network of sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2019.00246/abstract

 

Your research is really good.

 

An umpteenth study about tinnitus and ABR, see attached file.
Auditory brainstem response demonstrates that reduced peripheral auditory input is associated with self-report of tinnitus.

 

Evaluation of serum prolidase enzyme activity and oxidative stress in patients with tinnitus
Abstract
Introduction
Tinnitus is defined as the perception of sound in the head or in the head in the absence of external sounds. The cause of tinnitus is still unknown.

Objective
We aimed to compare the serum levels of total oxidant status, total antioxidant status, serum prolidase enzyme activity and the oxidative stress index in patients with tinnitus to those of normal subjects.

Methods
Twenty five patients with tinnitus (mean age 34.3) and 25 healthy controls (mean age 37.2) were included in the study.

Results
Total oxidant status levels in the patient group were significantly higher than in the control group (p = 0.037). The mean total oxidant status value was 2.54 ± 0.95 mmoL/L in the patient group, and 2.06 ± 0.98 mmoL/L in the control group. The mean oxidative stress index level was 0.22 ± 0.10 AU in the patient group, while it was 0.17 ± 0.08 AU in the control group. Oxidative stress index was significantly higher in the patient group (0.026). There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of total antioxidant status values (p = 0.838). The mean serum prolidase enzyme activity level was 202.74 ± 33.56 U/L in the patient group and 175.46 ± 42.68 U/L in the control group. Serum prolidase enzyme activity levels in the patient group were significantly higher than in the control group (0.040).

Conclusion
We detected that the total oxidant status, oxidative stress index and serum prolidase enzyme activity levels were higher in patients with tinnitus when compared to the healthy controls. This finding suggests that oxidative stress index and serum prolidase enzyme activity may play a role in the etiopathogenesis of tinnitus.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1808869418308322

 

Tinnitus, biomarkers and quality of life in an older population
Haider, Haúla Faruk

Tinnitus is a symptom involving the perception of sound in the ears or head, without a corresponding external acoustic stimulus. It is related to many different conditions and has a major impact on quality of life of the affected person. Currently, its diagnosis and monitoring are based on subjective audiometric and psychometric measures. There are no objective methods for tinnitus identification. In addition, the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying tinnitus remains unknown. The purpose of this thesis was to study the mechanisms underlying tinnitus and their relationship to hearing loss, being that hearing loss is the comorbidity most frequently associated with tinnitus. It also aimed to evaluate the contribution of genetic, audiological and immunological factors to the etiology of tinnitus. For this purpose, systematic reviews (SR) were performed, in order to account the state of art, the perspectives of the patient and their relatives, and previous clinical trials of tinnitus treatments. SRs contributed to the identification of a pool of tinnitus-related complaint domains used by COMIT’ID (Core outcome measures in tinnitus international Delphi) in a 3-round internet-based Delphi survey to identifying core outcome sets (COS), i.e., which complaints related to tinnitus are essential for evaluation in clinical trials. These recommendations are specific to the three main therapeutic modalities: sound, psychological, and pharmacological. In order to contribute to the standardization of tinnitus clinical evaluation and treatment, TINNET, a European network for scientific tinnitus research, was created. Among the different activities carried out in were a systematic review of existing national clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of tinnitus. This review contributed to the development of a multidisciplinary European guideline for tinnitus: diagnosis, evaluation and treatment. This guideline was presented at TINNET final meeting and it is being disseminated widely. Another aim of the present thesis was to review work on somatosensory tinnitus (pathophysiology, diagnosis, treatment and the participation in an international Delphi consensus group on the diagnosis of this subtype of tinnitus), to contribute to a better understanding of this subtype of tinnitus. In order to achieve the objectives of this PhD study, 114 participants aged 55 to 75 years were recruited from the Portuguese population. Participants were divided into four groups according to the presence/absence of tinnitus and hearing loss. The completion of the study protocol gave rise to four original research articles, including a demographic characterization, relevant psychological and quality of life aspects comparing the studied population and the published literature, audiologic markers of tinnitus, and immunological profile of population and biomarkers of presbycusis and tinnitus. The results point to hearing loss as a risk factor for the development of tinnitus and psychological complaints as a risk factor for more severe tinnitus and consequently less quality of life in patients with this symptom. In characterizing audiological markers, the presence of previous noise exposure and the hearing loss increased the probability of developing tinnitus. Also, participants with an abrupt onset of tinnitus and who had a negative effect or rebound on residual inhibition were more likely to develop severe or catastrophic tinnitus. For the population with tinnitus, a reduction in amplitude of auditory evoked potentials wave I and a higher values in the 'Ratio of Waves V/I for both ears' were associated with a greater probability of developing severe or catastrophic tinnitus. The inflammatory profile of the study population showed significant differences in IL10 levels between the group with and without tinnitus. IL1α was significantly higher in patients with tonal tinnitus, while IL2 was higher in participants who reported negative or rebound effect on residual inhibition of tinnitus. A negative correlation was also found between IL10 and tinnitus duration, and between HSP70 and tinnitus intensity. Biomarkers were explored in this thesis. A systematic review was performed to synthesize evidence for the existence and clinical usefulness of biomarkers. GRM7 and NAT2 were evaluated in the thesis population. The results indicate a higher prevalence of the T allele in the GRM7 gene (60.3% T/T and 33.3% A/T). Participants with a T/T genotype appeared to be at a higher risk for ARHL development, and 33% have a lower risk of developing tinnitus compared to participants with A/A and A/T genotype. Regarding the NAT2 phenotype, the slow acetylator (53%) was most common, followed by the intermediate acetylator (35.9%). These results suggest that the AT allele of GRM7 and the slow acetylating phenotype of Nat2 are potential biomarkers of tinnitus severity. The results in this thesis are very interesting and original, showing us the need for future research in larger samples, and employing rigorous methodological design in order to control for confounding variables. On the other hand, translational studies may be the key to clarifying the pathophysiologic dilemmas of tinnitus.

Source: https://run.unl.pt/handle/10362/64180

 

Another article about salience network.

 

Changes in the Laterality of Functional Connectivity Associated with Tinnitus: Resting-State fMRI Study
Yeji Shin,1 Chang-Woo Ryu, 1 Geon-Ho Jahng,1 Moon Suh Park,2 and Jae Yong Byun2
1Department of Radiology, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea.
2Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea.

Correspondence to: Chang-Woo Ryu, M.D. Department of Radiology, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, 892 Dongnamro, Gangdong-gu, Seoul 05278, Korea. Tel. +82-2-440-6186, Fax. +82-2-440-6932, Email: md.cwryu@gmail.com
Received Dec 21, 2018; Revised Dec 10, 2018; Accepted Dec 11, 2018.

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.


Go to:
Abstract

Purpose
One of the suggested potential mechanisms of tinnitus is an alteration in perception in the neural auditory pathway. The aim of this study was to investigate the difference in laterality in functional connectivity between tinnitus patients and healthy controls using resting state functional MRI (rs-fMRI).

Materials and Methods
Thirty-eight chronic tinnitus subjects and 45 age-matched healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Connectivity was investigated using independent component analysis, and the laterality index map was calculated based on auditory (AN) and dorsal attention (DAN), default mode (DMN), sensorimotor, salience (SalN), and visual networks (VNs). The laterality index (LI) of tinnitus subjects was compared with that of normal controls using region-of-interest (ROI) and voxel-based methods and a two-sample unpaired t-test. Pearson correlation was conducted to assess the associations between the LI in each network and clinical variables.

Results
The AN and VN showed significant differences in LI between the two groups in ROI analysis (P < 0.05), and the tinnitus group had clusters with significantly decreased laterality of AN, SalN, and VN in voxel-based comparisons. The AN was positively correlated with tinnitus distress (tinnitus handicap inventory), and the SalN was negatively correlated with symptom duration (P < 0.05).

Conclusion
The results of this study suggest that various functional networks related to psychological distress can be modified by tinnitus, and that this interrelation can present differently on the right and left sides, according to the dominance of the network.

Keywords: Tinnitus; Functional connectivity; Laterality; Resting state functional MRI

Full article: https://synapse.koreamed.org/search...04/imri.2019.23.1.55&code=1040IMRI&vmode=FULL

 

Altered Resting-State EEG Microstate in Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss Patients with Tinnitus
Yuexin Cai1, 2, Suijun Chen1, 2, Yanhong Chen1, 2, Jiahong Li1, 2, Chang-Dong Wang3, Fei Zhao2, 4, Caiping Dang5, 6, Jianheng Liang7, Nannan He7, Maojin Liang1, 2 and Yiqing Zheng1, 2*

• 1Department of Otolaryngology, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, China
• 2Department of Hearing and Speech Science, Xinhua College, Sun Yat-sen University, China
• 3School of Data and Computer Science, Sun Yat-sen University, China
• 4Department of Speech and Language Therapy, Cardiff Metropolitan University, United Kingdom
• 5Guangzhou Brain Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, China
• 6Guangzhou Medical University, China
• 7College of Mathematics and Informatics, College of Software Engineering, South China Agricultural University, China

In order to clarify the central reorganization in acute period of hearing loss, this study explored the aberrant dynamics of electroencephalogram (EEG) microstates and the correlations with the features of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) and tinnitus. We used high-density EEG with 128 channels to investigate alterations in microstate parameters between 25 SSNHL patients with tinnitus and 27 healthy subjects. This study also explored the associations between microstate characteristics and tinnitus features. There was a reduced presence of microstate A in amplitude, coverage, lifespan, frequency and an increased presence of microstate B in frequency in SSNHL patients with tinnitus. According to the syntax analysis, a reduced transition from microstate C to microstate A and an increased transition from microstate C to microstate B were found in SSNHL subjects. In addition, the significant negative correlations were found between Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) scores and frequency of class A as well as between THI scores and the probability of transition from microstate D to microstate A. While THI was positively correlated with the transition probability from microstate D to microstate B. To sum up, the significant differences in the characteristics of resting-state EEG microstates were found between SSNHL subjects with tinnitus and healthy controls. This study suggests that the alterations of central neural networks occur in acute stage of hearing loss and tinnitus. And EEG microstate may be considered as a useful tool to study the whole brain network in SSNHL patients.

Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2019.00443/abstract

 

Alterations in Regional Homogeneity in Patients With Unilateral Chronic Tinnitus
This clinical trial cames from my country. I was not qualified because my tinnitus rings in my whole head.

 

Reduced ABR response and sound-evoked/resting-state BOLD fMRI connectivity in tinnitus
https://www.thieme-connect.com/products/ejournals/html/10.1055/s-0039-1686398

The precise neurophysiological basis of chronic tinnitus, which affects 10 – 15% of the population, remains unknown and is controversial at many levels. It is an open question whether phantom sound perception results from increased central neural gain or rather a lack of central neural gain, a crucial aspect for future therapeutic intervention strategies for tinnitus. We studied normal to mild hearing-impaired participants with and without tinnitus, excluding the co-occurrences of hyperacusis. We used different audiological tests, fMRI measurements (during rest and with audiological stimuli) and cortisol analysis in body fluids. For the audiological test, we clinically exam the ears, did tympanometry and acoustic reflex measurements, performed pure tone and speech audiometry to determine the hearing threshold, scored tinnitus with a questionnaire and did ABR measurements. A 3-Tesla scanner (Siemens Skyra) was used for fMRI acquisition. Besides, resting state measurements for functional connectivity, different auditory stimuli (music and frequency-modulated chirp sounds) were used for task-evoked measurements.

We observed in the group of participants with tinnitus reduced and delayed sound-induced suprathreshold auditory brainstem responses (ABR wave V), reduced evoked BOLD fMRI responses in auditory midbrain and cortical regions, reduced resting state r-fcMRI connectivity between lower and higher level auditory brain regions and prefrontal regions (stress controlling). We conclude that reduced auditory-specific flow may hamper auditory-specific recruitment of prefrontal (stress controlling) regions as a correlate of tinnitus.

Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Marlies Knipper
HNO Universitätsklinik Tübingen,
Elfriede-Aulhorn-Str. 5, 72076
Tübingen
marlies.knipper@uni-tuebingen.de

 

S40. Tinnitus Severity in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is Directly Correlated With Hyperarousal and Inversely Correlated With Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep Percentage and Duration

Impossible to copy and to paste the text.
https://www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S0006-3223(19)30941-2/fulltext

 

Evaluation of serum prolidase enzyme activity and oxidative stress in patients with tinnitus
Abstract
Introduction: Tinnitus is defined as the perception of sound in the head or in the head in the absence of external sounds. The cause of tinnitus is still unknown. Objective: We aimed to compare the serum levels of total oxidant status, total antioxidant status, serum prolidase enzyme activity and the oxidative stress index in patients with tinnitus to those of normal subjects. Methods: Twenty five patients with tinnitus (mean age 34.3) and 25 healthy controls (mean age 37.2) were included in the study. Results: Total oxidant status levels in the patient group were significantly higher than in the control group (p = 0.037). The mean total oxidant status value was 2.54 ± 0.95 mmoL/L in the patient group, and 2.06 ± 0.98 mmoL/L in the control group. The mean oxidative stress index level was 0.22 ± 0.10 AU in the patient group, while it was 0.17 ± 0.08 AU in the control group. Oxidative stress index was significantly higher in the patient group (0.026). There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of total antioxidant status values (p = 0.838). The mean serum prolidase enzyme activity level was 202.74 ± 33.56 U/L in the patient group and 175.46 ± 42.68 U/L in the control group. Serum prolidase enzyme activity levels in the patient group were significantly higher than in the control group (0.040). Conclusion: We detected that the total oxidant status, oxidative stress index and serum prolidase enzyme activity levels were higher in patients with tinnitus when compared to the healthy controls. This finding suggests that oxidative stress index and serum prolidase enzyme activity may play a role in the etiopathogenesis of tinnitus. © 2019
Source
Brazilian Journal of Otorhinolaryngology
URI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjorl.2019.01.009

 

Baseline functional connectivity features of neural network nodes can predict improvement after sound therapy through adjusted narrow band noise in tinnitus patients

Previous resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have shown neural connectivity alterations after the treatment of tinnitus. We aim to study the value of the baseline functional connectivity features of neural network nodes to predict outcomes of sound therapy through adjusted narrow band noise. The fMRI data of 27 untreated tinnitus patients and 27 matched healthy controls were analyzed. We calculated the graph-theoretical metric degree centrality (DC) to characterize the functional connectivity of the neural network nodes. Therapeutic outcomes are determined by the changes in the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) score after a 12-week intervention. The connectivity of ten brain nodes in tinnitus patients was significantly increased at baseline. The functional connectivity of right insula, inferior parietal lobule (IPL), bilateral thalami and left middle temporal gyrus was significantly modified with the sound therapy and such changes correlated with THI changes in tinnitus patients. Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses revealed that the measurements from the five brain regions were effective at classifying improvement after therapy. After age, gender and education correction, the adjusted AUC values for the bilateral thalami were the highest (left, 0.745; right, 0.708). Our study further supported the involvement of the fronto-parietal-cingulate network in tinnitus and found that the connectivity of the thalamus at baseline is an object neuroimaging-based indicator to predict clinical outcome of sound therapy through adjusted narrow band noise.

Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2019.00614/abstract

 

Speech comprehension and its relation to other auditory parameters in elderly patients with tinnitus
Zbyněk Bureš1, 2*, Oliver Profant1, 3, Veronika Svobodová1, 3, Diana Tóthová1, 3, Václav Vencovský1, 4 and Josef Syka1

• 1Department of Auditory Neuroscience, Institute of Experimental Medicine (ASCR), Czechia
• 2Department of Technical Studies, College of Polytechnics Jihlava, Czechia
• 3Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové, Charles University, Czechia
• 4Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Czechia

Deteriorated speech comprehension is a common manifestation of the age-related decline of auditory functions (presbycusis). It could be assumed that when presbycusis is accompanied by tinnitus, general hearing functions, and particularly comprehension of speech in quiet and speech in noise, will be significantly affected. In this study, speech comprehension ability and other parameters of auditory function were assessed in elderly subjects with (T, n=25) and without (NT, n=26) tinnitus, aiming for examination of both peripheral and central auditory processing, Apart from high-frequency audiograms in quiet and in background noise, speech recognition thresholds in silence or in competitive babble noise, and the ability to understand temporally gated speech, we measured also sensitivity to frequency modulation and interaural delay, gap detection thresholds, or the difference limens of intensity. The results show that in elderly participants matched by age (mean ages around 68 years), cognitive status (median MoCA scores around 27), and hearing thresholds (median pure-tone averages around 16 dB HL), tinnitus per se has little influence on speech comprehension. The tinnitus patients also show similar gap-detection thresholds, sensitivity to interaural intensity difference, and sensitivity to frequency modulation as the NT subjects. Despite these similarities, nevertheless, significant differences in auditory processing have been found in the tinnitus participants: a worse ability to detect tones in noise, a higher sensitivity to intensity changes, and a higher sensitivity to interaural time differences. Additional correlation analyses further revealed that speech comprehension in the T subjects is dependent on the sensitivity to temporal modulation and interaural time delay, while these correlations are weak and non-significant in the NT subjects. Therefore, despite similarities in average speech comprehension and several other parameters of auditory function, elderly people with tinnitus exhibit different auditory processing, particularly at suprathreshold level. The results also suggest that speech comprehension ability of elderly tinnitus patients relies more on temporal features of the sound stimuli, especially under difficult conditions, compared to elderly people without tinnitus.

Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2019.00219/abstract

 

Inhibition of Brain Area and Functional Connectivity in Idiopathic Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss with Tinnitus Based on Resting-state EEG
Yuexin Cai1, 2, Jiahong Li1, 2, Yanhong Chen1, 2, Wan Chen3, Caiping Dang4, 5, Fei Zhao2, 6, Wenrui Li1, 2, Guisheng Chen1, 2, Suijun Chen1, 2, Maojin Liang1, 2 and Yiqing Zheng1, 2*

• 1Department of Otolaryngology, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, China
• 2Department of Hearing and Speech Science, Xinhua College, Sun Yat-sen University, China
• 3State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Sun Yat-Sen University, China
• 4Guangzhou Brain Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, China
• 5Guangzhou Medical University, China
• 6Department of Speech and Language Therapy, Cardiff Metropolitan University, United Kingdom

This study aimed to identify the mechanism behind idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) in patients with tinnitus by investigating aberrant activity in areas of brain and functional connectivity. High-density electroencephalography (EEG) was used to investigate central nervous changes in 25 ISSNHL subjects and 27 healthy controls. ISSNHL subjects had significantly reduced activity in the left frontal lobe at the alpha 2 frequency band compared with controls. Linear lagged connectivity and lagged coherence analysis showed significantly reduced functional connectivity between the temporal gyrus and supramarginal gyrus at the gamma 2 frequency band in the ISSNHL group. Additionally, a significantly reduced functional connectivity was found between the central cingulate gyrus and frontal lobe under lagged phase synchronization analysis. These results strongly indicate inhibition of brain area activity and change in functional connectivity in ISSNHL with tinnitus patients.

Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2019.00851/abstract