Bile Acid and Central Nervous System — Nucleus Accumbens

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180831130126.htm

While this study is focused on drug abuse, it’s interesting to see how the biliary system, and its potential dysfunction, could impact the central nervous system, specifically the nucleus accumbens. Personally, my tinnitus began following stomach pains, spasms in my abdomen region, mild constipation and heartburn. I was eating a ketogenic diet with virtually no complex carbohydrates and ingesting quite a bit of calcium via food, multiple tums daily (to combat heartburn), high dosage L-Lysine (for acne, which can impair the biliary tract). I didn’t think anything of these symptoms, as they weren’t what I’d consider severe, nor would I think to make a connection. Considering the biliary tract as a potential contributor to tinnitus is something worth investigating. I have begun to change my diet to incorporate more complex carbohydrates, fruits, and limit fat intake. It’s a long shot, but it can’t hurt to try.

In regards to how reward centers of the brain can potentially contribute to tinnitus, here is a study that investigates the role of the nucleus accumbens:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110112122504.htm

“Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), the Georgetown researchers tested 22 volunteers, half of whom had been diagnosed with chronic tinnitus. They found that moderate hyperactivity was present in the primary and posterior auditory cortices of tinnitus patients, but that the nucleus accumbens exhibited the greatest degree of hyperactivity, specifically to sounds that were matched to frequencies lost in patients.

The nucleus accumbens is part of the corticostriatal circuit, which is involved in evaluation of reward, emotion, and aversiveness, says Rauschecker. "This suggests that the corticostriatal circuit is part of a general 'appraisal network' determining which sensations are important, and ultimately affecting how or whether those sensations are experienced," he says. "In this study, we provide evidence that these limbic structures, specifically the nucleus accumbens and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, do indeed differ in the brains of individuals with tinnitus."

 

I my opinion these theories of Rauschecker and co. are not hitting the point.

Sure there might me changes in these brain regions, but I'm sure these changes are induced BY the tinnitus, they follow after the onset of tinnitus. So focusing on these areas does not focus at the root of tinnitus, these are probably the cochlea, the dorsal cochlear nucleus and inferior colliculus.