Neurofeedback Shows Promise in Treating Tinnitus

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171127091127.htm

Date:
November 27, 2017
Source:
Radiological Society of North America
Summary:
Researchers using functional MRI (fMRI) have found that neurofeedback training has the potential to reduce the severity of tinnitus or even eliminate it, according to a new study.

 

I think that summary is a bit too aggressive... Sounds like they used white noise to distract them from their tinnitus... Sounds like something everyone else does here lol.

 

I wish the authors were to make it more clear how they measured changes in tinnitus in this study.

 

Yea the word is misleading. I still don't get or buy that distraction, mood calming, or focusing on breathing etc changes anything permanently. Its akin to telling someone with cancer to be more positive to reduce their cancer. Its not necessarily bad advice to stay positive but it shouldn't be sold as a treatment.

 

Here's the actual press release which has more information than is in the initial link: http://press.rsna.org/timssnet/media/pressreleases/14_pr_target.cfm?ID=1974

This is a press release about a paper being presented at a conference.

Yep, it is after all a press release.

No one in the study had tinnitus. They were trained to reduce activity in the auditory cortex while listening to white noise.

It's nothing like that.

 

Thank you for the clarification.

 

Well like my doctor said, 70% of the diseases are a result of stress, so why wouldn't it work the other way around ? Sure it's not easy to stay positive when you have a ton of problems to solve, and believe me I come from there, life isn't the same for everyone, but one thing is sure, stress is killing us and staying positive and learning to relax, on top of eating healthy is probably the best option we have.

 

Also TMS therapy being used with fMRI has shown to be effective in lowering tinnitus significantly in some. I'll be doing this.

 

How much is it going to cost? Please let us know how it goes and good luck with it.

 

Knowing how tricky matter can be tinnitus, I heard that somebody here didn't get benefits from neurofeedback when instead the article gives hopes...who knows...let's hope for the best...

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/11/171127091127.htm

 

I did Neurofeedback therapy.. And many sessions and there was no improvement. Perhaps it is the protocol that will determine the usefulness or not. The same as in rTMS, I also had many sessions and there was no improvement. The protocol?

 

Hi folks
How can I send private messages?

 

@EDDTEKK click the name of an user, then click on start a conversation.

 

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2017-11/rson-nsp111617.php



Have you guys heard of this?

 

Thanks for the link, that's very encouraging!

 

I only believe in the magical Power of intratympanic injections Being injected info my ear and doing some curable stuff for my cochlea... And then after the curing, maybe some therapy that would reduce the overstimulated brain... That is how I see a therapy for People with hearing damages... However, IT Sounds too good and too impossible to be True... Adios ,healthy life...

 

Sorry to be a downer but I don't see anything significantly interesting in that study in terms of Tinnitus. It seems that the participants were healthy individuals with no hearing loss. The Tinnitus isn't explicitly mentioned in any pre-study information or measured outcome, so I have to assume that these candidates didn't have any Tinnitus to begin with.

I think they just showed that one can decrease the amount of activity in the auditory cortex when that activity stems from a real stimulus.

I feel uneasy about sounding ungrateful when people try to "do something to help T", but I wish the money allocated to that research had gone to more pragmatic avenues. Sorry - a bit of a let down for me.

 

Seems like mire "divert attention" crap. Shame that it isn't what I hoped. Dropped.

I agree but still. It's 2018. People should not be thinking that tinnitus is a function of the brain responding to auditory damage, and not maladaptive neuroplasticity in this day in age.

 

An explanation about what's going on would have been useful. Not sure why they didn't include any.

 

What I found out so far: it's a study from the University of Marburg, Germany, that's testing neurofeedback to alleviate tinnitus symptoms. The goal seems to be to find out whether neurofeedback can help to reduce tinnitus loudness and distress.

• 10 sessions over 4-5 weeks, each session is an hour long
• 120 subjects will be examined
• they expect to conclude their study in about a year

 

Thank you for that info.

I was asking specifically about the video: it almost looks like the person is controlling the little fish with brain waves and somehow if he can keep it between the lines, the T is suppressed? That's really what I'm curious about: the mechanisms of this therapy.

I realize you may not know this of course - I was just wondering what the value was to post a video without any explanation. Perhaps it's a teaser.