March 2021: Vote on Your Favourite Research Paper!

It's that time again! You can help us influence the course of tinnitus research by voting on your favourite academic paper about tinnitus from the previous month.

We have again made an attempt to provide easily digestible summaries of the papers, which you can find below, as well as in the attached PDF which you also contains links to the original articles.

Maryam Shabbir, one of the TIN-ACT students, helped us write the summaries. We are looking for volunteers to do this in the future!

We thank @Frédéric as usually for diligently compiling the list of papers.

Tinnitus Research Papers Published in March 2021

1. Web-based discussion forums reveal the person-centered relevance and importance of tinnitus
This study uses web-based discussion forums through Tinnitus Talk for a more in-depth understanding of tinnitus seen through the eyes of those who experience it on a daily basis. The group consisted of 148 people with tinnitus and tinnitus professionals.
You can find a dedicated thread on this paper here.

2. Is pain harder to withstand than tinnitus?
This study compared the perception of tinnitus with the perception of pain using 124 patients with tinnitus as main complaint and 300 patients with cervical pain as main complaint. They also aimed to find specific factors that could influence the perception of both pain and tinnitus.

3. Tinnitus and associations with chronic pain: The population-based Tromsø Study (2015–2016)
Since no population study has examined the relationship between chronic pain and tinnitus, the present study aimed to explore the association in a general adult population. Data was used from all 19,039 people who participated in the Tromsø Study.

4. Investigating the impact of cognitive training for individuals with bothersome tinnitus: A randomized controlled trial
The objective of this study was to evaluate how effective cognitive training is in improving tinnitus bothersomeness. They also aimed to identify predictors of patient response to the cognitive training. Participants were 64 adults with subjective tinnitus causing significant tinnitus-related distress.

5. Cortical thickness alterations in patients with tinnitus before and after sound therapy: A surface-based morphometry study
This study aimed to explore brain surface-based morphometry cortical thickness changes in 33 patients with idiopathic tinnitus before and after 24 weeks of sound therapy.

6. Efficacy of PhotoBioModulation in the management of tinnitus: a systematic review of randomized control trials
The aim of this study was to systematically review randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that assessed how effective PhotoBioModulation (low-level laser therapy) is in the management of tinnitus. 10 RCTs were included in this review.

7. Estimation of outer hair cells function in chronic bilateral tinnitus patients with normal hearing using distortion product otoacoustic emissions
This study aimed to compare distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAE) in the frequency range of 0.5−10 kHz in 40 patients with normal hearing with and without tinnitus.

8. The role of sound therapies in tinnitus care
In this study, people who had used sound therapy in different formats to manage their tinnitus were interviewed. Study participants included 10 individuals with a range of tinnitus experiences who sought help at audiology departments in the West Midlands of England.

9. Aberrant functional and effective connectivity of the Frontostriatal Network in unilateral acute tinnitus patients with hearing loss
The present study combined resting-state functional connectivity (FC) and Granger causality analysis (GCA) to explore frontostriatal network dysfunction in 42 unilateral acute tinnitus (AT) patients with hearing loss.

10. Tinnitus treatment by vagus nerve stimulation: a systematic review
This study aimed to review the effect of vagus nerve stimulation on tinnitus distress and tinnitus severity in patients with chronic tinnitus from 9 different studies.

11. Addressing depressive symptoms, emotional tension and worry improves tinnitus-related distress and affective pain perceptions in patients with chronic tinnitus
This study examines whether treatment-related changes in psychological factors impact distress caused by tinnitus and perception of pain in a sample of 1,238 patients with chronic tinnitus.

12. Effect of Yoga and Meditation on tinnitus: a systematic review
This systematic review aimed to explore the effects of yoga and meditation for managing tinnitus from 5 different studies.

13. Auditory cortex hyperconnectivity before rTMS is correlated with tinnitus improvement
This study proposed that measuring regional connections before repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) treatment could predict treatment effectiveness, facilitating appropriate treatment strategies for tinnitus patients. Participants included 10 people with tinnitus compared to 10 age-matched people without tinnitus.

14. The long-term effect of Neurofeedback therapy as adjuvant therapy on the management of tinnitus: A prospective clinical trial
The present study investigates the effect of neurofeedback sessions as a treatment for tinnitus. 30 patients underwent 20 sessions of neurofeedback and were examined at time intervals before and after the treatment to compare how effective the treatment was at managing tinnitus.

15. Hearing more to hear less: a scoping review of hearing aids for tinnitus relief
The aim of this scoping review is to provide an update of the available evidence on hearing aids for tinnitus. 28 studies were selected focusing on the effect of sound amplification to draw conclusions for clinical practice.

16. An updated meta-analysis: repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for treating tinnitus
This study is an updated meta-analysis to obtain more evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) assessing the effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for the treatment of tinnitus. The analysis included 12 RCTs with a total of 717 participants.

17. Genome-wide association study suggests that variation at the RCOR1 locus is associated with tinnitus in UK Biobank
Evidence suggests that tinnitus has a heritable component although previous genetic studies have not established specific risk factors. The authors performed a genome-wide association study using self-reported tinnitus available from 172,608 UK Biobank volunteers.

18. Insomnia associated with tinnitus and gender differences
This study conducted a retrospective analysis on 76 participants for differences in patients with tinnitus and patients diagnosed with tinnitus and insomnia using various psychometric instruments. Gender differences were also explored to assess the need for tailored therapeutic measures.

19. A multi-site service evaluation of the tinnitus care decision aid
The first international standard decision aid for tinnitus care was developed in 2018 and is in use across the UK. It is free to use and access from the British Tinnitus Association website. The aim of this study was to compare routine care with the care that also included the decision aid as part of care for their patients.

20. Role of the caudate-putamen nucleus in sensory gating in induced tinnitus in rats
This study aimed to investigate the potential role of the caudate-putamen nucleus in experimentally induced tinnitus. This was done by creating a rat model of tinnitus induced by intraperitoneal administration of 350 mg/kg sodium salicylate.