May 2021: Vote on Your Favourite Research Paper!

It's that time again! You get to vote on the best research paper of the past month.

Simply: 1) Read the summaries below — especially created for you to help you digest these papers easily; and 2) select your favourite paper in the poll.

A big shout out once again to @Frédéric and @Aaron91 for preparing the list and summaries!

Just a reminder: We will be analysing the results of all the voting rounds, writing a report, and sharing it with the research community. We will urge researchers to pay attention to the voice of the tinnitus community and pursue research directions that we value and could make a difference in our lives!

Thanks for taking the time to vote

Tinnitus Research Papers Published in May 2021

1. The daily experience of subjective tinnitus: ecological momentary assessment versus end-of-day diary
This aim of this study was to compare Ecological momentary assessment (EMA), a real-time assessment of tinnitus, to End-of-day diary (EDD), a daily assessment of tinnitus. Some 4732 data entries were collected from 9 participants undergoing cognitive behavioral treatment for tinnitus for approximately 3 months and tinnitus experience and well-being were correlated and means compared. Small (<3.9%) significant daily mean differences between EMA and EDD were found for six variables (tinnitus anger, invasiveness, pleasantness, sadness, as well as anxiety and stress) with worse results reported in EDD.

2. Evidence of cochlear synaptopathy and the effect of systemic steroid in acute idiopathic tinnitus with normal hearing
The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the electrophysiologic evidence of cochlear synaptopathy and the effects of systemic steroids in acute idiopathic tinnitus with normal hearing. Fifty-nine patients who experienced acute-onset idiopathic tinnitus (within 12 weeks) with normal hearing and the same number of age and pure-tone threshold-matched control (ginko biloba) groups participated. The THI and VAS scores were decreased at 3 and 12 weeks after steroid administration; however, overall changes in THI and VAS scores were not significantly different between the steroid and ginkgo biloba groups.

3. Behavioral outcomes and neural network modeling of a novel, putative, recategorization sound therapy
The aim of this study was to examine how malleable psychoacoustic correlates of tinnitus and neural activities associated with tinnitus are to sound therapy. A brain-inspired spiking neural network (SNN) architecture was used to model and compare differences between electroencephalography (EEG) patterns recorded prior to morphing sound presentation, during, after (3-month), and post-follow-up in eighteen participants. Results indicate the feasibility of the computational SNN method and preliminary evidence that sound exposure may change activation of neural tinnitus networks. There was also a significant reduction in the Tinnitus Functional Index score at the end of the trial compared to baseline.

4. Amplifiers in tinnitus patients
The object of this retrospective study was to compare high tinnitus loudness patients with low tinnitus loudness patients and to find specific factors associated with high tinnitus loudness. Data was obtained from 234 patients over a four-year period. The study showed that gender and the size of the largest anterior spur from C3 to C6 are involved in the amplification of tinnitus loudness. Additionally, the study also showed that a steep audiometric edge between hearing at 2 kHz and hearing at 8 kHz and/or cervical spine pathology with sympathetic nervous system irritation can amplify tinnitus loudness.

5. Tracking white-matter brain modifications in chronic non-bothersome acoustic trauma tinnitus
The aim of this study was to look for white matter modifications related to the chronic experience of tinnitus in a homogeneous group of 19 participants with non-bothersome tinnitus induced by acoustic trauma. Diffusion-weighted images were acquired with high angular resolution and a deep-learning based tractography segmentation and mapped Apparent Fiber Density (AFD) on the bundles of interest (related to the lymbic system) was conducted. In the tinnitus group, an increase in AFD related to chronic tinnitus percept in two main white matter regions was observed. Furthermore, significant correlations with hearing loss were found in the left hemisphere in the inferior longitudinal fasciculus and in the fronto-pontine tract.

6. Pilot study to attenuate tonal tinnitus using near-threshold individually optimized noise
The aim of this study was to investigate whether individually spectrally fitted acoustic noise can successfully reduce chronic tonal / narrow band tinnitus during stimulation. Hearing loss, tinnitus pitch and loudness and audiometry were measured in 22 patients. The method was most effective in normal hearing tinnitus patients and those with mild hearing loss. Subjective tinnitus loudness could be reduced in 16 out of 22 patients during stimulation.

7. Development of gold wire-based electrodes for the direct round window stimulation for tinnitus suppression
This aim of this study was to reproduce the suppression of tinnitus normally achieved by the electrical stimulation of the auditory nerve by cochlear implants in normal hearing patients. To accomplish this, gold wire electrodes were placed in the middle ear for direct round window electrical stimulation. Implantation was found safe, electrically evoked potentials were confirmed and measured with ABR, and bipolar stimulation of the intracochlear neuronal structures occurred at a current if 1mA.

8. Effectiveness of electroacupuncture for the treatment of sudden sensorineural hearing loss: A retrospective study
The aim of this retrospective, placebo-controlled study was to explore the effectiveness of electroacupuncture in the treatment of 140 patients with SSNHL. The outcomes included average hearing threshold (AHT), tinnitus (as assessed by tinnitus handicap inventory [THI]), dizziness (as measured by dizziness handicap inventory [DHI]), and adverse events (AEs). After treatment, patients in both groups exerted more reduction in Hearing Threshold (P < 0.01), THI (P < 0.01), than those before the treatment. Furthermore, patients in the EA treatment group showed more relief in HT (P < 0.01), THI (P < 0.01) than those of patients in the control group.

9. Auditory brainstem response test results in normal hearing adolescents with subjective tinnitus
The objective of the study was to analyze the auditory brainstem response (ABR) test results of 10 adolescents with normal hearing threshold who have unilateral subjective tinnitus in an effort to determine the probable site of origin of tinnitus. ABR were analyzed and compared between tinnitus ears and contralateral ears without tinnitus in chronic and non-chronic tinnitus patients. Interpeak latencies in ABR waves III–V was significantly prolonged in tinnitus ears compared to non-tinnitus ears (p = 0.035). Although other parameters were found to be statistically non-significant, there was preponderance in ABR wave I amplitude; it was smaller in tinnitus ears of chronic tinnitus adolescents than in those of non-chronic tinnitus adolescents (p = 0.114).

10. Central and peripheral auditory abnormalities in chinchilla animal model of blast-injury
This study attempted to determine changes in the peripheral auditory system (PAS) and central auditory system (CAS) in the Chinchilla after blast related pressure injury on day 1 and up to 7 days later. To assess PAS changes, ABR, DPOAE and physical hair cell changes were measured. To assess CAS changes, excitatory receptors (NMDAR1), Inhibitory receptors (GABAA), serotonin receptors (5-HTP2A) and acetylcholine receptors (AChR) in the auditory cortex, geniculate body, inferior colliculus and amygdala were stained and examined. It was determined that blast trauma causes both peripheral and central changes, and the central changes are independent of the peripheral changes.

11. Functional impact of bothersome tinnitus on cognitive test performance
This study aimed to compare cognitive performance and efficiency between 30 participants with bothersome tinnitus and 30 control participants, matched for age and hearing loss, on visually based tests of selective attention (flanker task) and short-term memory (spatial letter location) that were self-administered under three auditory conditions (quiet, broadband noise and speech) using a tablet-based test protocol. The results revealed a significantly larger flanker effect and shorter memory span in the tinnitus group compared to the control group, consistent with previous studies. Performance accuracy was comparable between the groups.

12. Prediction of response to repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in phantom sounds based on individual brain anatomy
This study used machine learning to investigate whether brain anatomy, acquired by structural magnetic resonance image, can predict therapeutic outcome in patients receiving repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Sixty-one chronic tinnitus patients received rTMS stimulation of left dorsolateral prefrontal and temporal cortex. Results suggest that idiosyncratic brain patterns accurately predict individual responses to repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment for tinnitus.

13. Age-related central gain compensation for reduced auditory nerve output for people with normal audiograms, with and without tinnitus
This study investigated whether gain compensation occurs with aging. Ninety-four patients aged 12-68 years (7 with tinnitus) with normal or close-to-normal audiograms participated. The study found that for people with a normal audiogram, the auditory-nerve response decreases with age and is compensated by elevated gain in the wave-III generator site of the central auditory system. The study also showed that elevated central gain can occur in people without tinnitus.