Hyperacusis Relates to Enlarged (Sub)cortical Responses to Sound Except at the Tinnitus Frequency

Hyperacusis in tinnitus patients relates to enlarged subcortical and cortical responses to sound except at the tinnitus frequency

This is from the scientist (Elouise Koops) that received the funds from the Danny Boy fundraiser.

Abstract
Hyperacusis, a hypersensitivity to sounds of mild to moderate intensity, has been related to increased neural gain along the auditory pathway. To date, there is still uncertainty on the neural correlates of hyperacusis. Since hyperacusis often co-occurs with hearing loss and tinnitus, the effects of the three conditions on cortical and subcortical structures are often hard to separate. In this fMRI study, two groups of hearing loss and tinnitus participants, with and without hyperacusis, were compared to specifically investigate the effect of the latter in a group that often reports hyperacusis. In 35 participants with hearing loss and tinnitus, with and without hyperacusis as indicated by a cut-off score of 22 on the Hyperacusis Questionnaire (HQ), subcortical and cortical responses to sound stimulation were investigated. In addition, the frequency tuning of cortical voxels was investigated in the primary auditory cortex. In cortical and subcortical auditory structures, sound-evoked activity was higher in the group with hyperacusis. This effect was not restricted to frequencies affected by hearing loss but extended to intact frequencies. The higher subcortical and cortical activity in response to sound thus appears to be a marker of hyperacusis. In contrast, the response to the tinnitus frequency was reduced in the group with hyperacusis. This increase in subcortical and cortical activity in hyperacusis can be related to an increase in neural gain along the auditory pathway, and the reduced response to the tinnitus frequency to differences in attentional resources allocated to the tinnitus sound.

 

Can someone explain this in layman’s terms?

 

Hyperacusis brains are more active?

Poor people with hyperacusis that were in an MRI machine... They're heroes to help the research.

 

Still seems only two had problems with the scan.

Despite our precautions, two participants expressed discomfort during the scanning procedures described below.

I did an MRI scan for the first time a couple of days ago and since I for over 3 months now have hyperacusis, tinnitus and hearing loss on my left ear I was a bit worried. But I had silicone plugs in my ears and ear defenders on top of that and everything went fine. I was afraid the machine might make more high frequency sounds than it did.

 

I'm glad you are fine, a recent MRI has royally screwed my ears. I used their foam plugs and foam pads - the ear defenders did not fit in the head enclosure, sadly.

 

Thanks, and sorry about your situation.

I was also given foam earplugs at first because I for some reason was told by the first person I met at the facility I wasn’t allowed to use the silicone earplugs I brought along. But after trying the foam earplugs and noticing they really didn't fit very well and dampened very little, I asked another person if could use my silicone earplugs. She said it was fine and maybe that's what saved me because they really dampen a lot, plus I had the ear defenders they were offering on top.

The air defenders that had could have been better, though – they were totally flat, not really covering the ear but rather residing on top of it. Still, altogether I felt I was protected well enough.

It's quite strange to me that the ones operating these machines aren't using more precaution when it comes to this. Horribly sad to get more health problems when doing a scan to help with health related issues one is already having.

 

It definitely is sad. The foam earplugs did very little and I now have crickets/background noise tinnitus that does not go away. I can hear it everywhere. And a lot of new reactivity, I get beeps over anything.

 

I find foam earplugs to be the most protecting. So much so that I don't wear them unless something is going to be really loud, and I work in auto restoration so it's often loud.

Foam you have to roll up in your fingers first, then with your arm behind your head, pull the top of your ear up, and insert the plug all the way in, release ear and wait for it to expand. If you don't pull your ear up it won't go in enough.

Hope this helps somebody in the future.

 

Foam earplugs work for some people but they clearly did not help me lol. My ear canals are too narrow/curvy, so it's impossible for me to actually insert them in my ear. If I have no other options, I'll cut one in half, but then I get scared that I'm going to cut it too small and it'll get stuck in my ear.

 

This. I now realized that just sticking them in was doing it wrong. Once I did it this way I could barely hear external sounds.

 

I find these to be sooooo much better than all the other earplugs I've tried:

https://www.loopearplugs.com/products/experience

...actually comfy enough to wear on a plane for hours without hating it.