Neurogenesis and Neuroplasticity: It's Not All Its Cracked Up to Be

I'm not much of an expert either. I know a very basic level of neuroscience and how to read and interpret research articles, so my knowledge pool is limited.

Glutamate is the most common excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain. It is found everywhere and is a vital part of conducting neural activity. NMDA receptors are known to cause what is known as excitotoxiity, which is when too much glutamate is released and can cause cell damage and death. NMDA receptors are known to do this, and glutamate is implicated in the hyperactive burst firing in the brainstem (the dorsal cochlear nucleus).

The trick, from what I have read, with NMDA antagonization is this: They play a crucial role in not just facilitation of neural firing, but in learning and memory. NMDA antagonists such as ketamine work effectively at suppressing those receptors from firing. However, because we have no current selective antagonist drug, by suppressing them we also suppress their role in learning and memory.

There is also the problem of very few NMDA antagonisst being available. Magnesium is said to antagonize them, as is dextromethmorphan (DXM) a common ingredient in some cough syrups. More powerful ones like ketamine are controlled substances that can be dangerous for unsupervised use. Yet an analysis of tinnitus treatments paper by Susan Shore seemed to indicate that it may be the future of treatment. Even Rauschecker's "gate keeper" paper proposed that they could stop or even reverse tinnitus.

Still, the limitations mentioned above are an issue.

 

Same. I am looking forward to the susan shore device, university of Minnesota, and this other device.
https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/727973/ear-tinnitus-treatment-sleep-cause-sounds-brain

I am hoping that it will also reduce or go back to the way it was and that Severe H would go away. I am going to do whatever it takes to make this go away or to get it reduced to a mild level like before. Otherwise if all options fail that is my end.

 

that will not help hyperacusis sadly

 

The Levo system isn't doing anything to reduce the volume of tinnitus

it just tries to detatch the emotional brains response through habituation.

 

H usually fades away. I had it since January 29 I believe. I cant believe that the caloric test did that much of damage to my ears. It caused extensive damage...T never reduced after Jan 17 it has been constant (severe) with changing tones. I feel like it is getting worse actually.

 

I thought it reduces the volume by 50%.

 

no it does not. It's complete habituation

Watch the video on their website.

https://otoharmonics.com/

you can discuss more with me in a PM or other thread to keep this on topic

 

Thank you for the very informative answer...I guess the trick would be to keep the NMDA receptors in some kind of a balance where you can still learn and retain information, but not much beyond that.
You seem to have done lot of research on tinnitus in general...what do you think of microdosing magic mushrooms?

 

Eh, this is just stuff I pick up. Sometimes I present information I haven't verified as fact.

Psilocybin is promising, though my interest is in LSD rather than shrooms. They act on your 5HT2A receptors. Those receptors are tricky because they are implicated in schizophrenia and anxiety. However, their stimulation has very powerful anti inflammatory effects.

 

@Gl0w0ut can you look into this or explain what I'm missing or if I'm right
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11423221

I am suggesting NMDA receptors are not the root cause of tinnitus whatsoever, but rather only causing additional hearing damage. Tinnitus is always generated in the brain even in the most acute phases never in the auditory nerve.

Ear plug experiments and severation of the audiotory nerve via accident account for tinnitus that cannot be explained through this model. NMDA blockage prevents additional hearing loss thus helps with tinnitus.

 

I'm not saying NMDA isn't associated with neurological changes or doesn't cause hair cell death it does, I'm saying Auris Medical's claim about NMDA causing hyperactivity in the cochlea doesn't add up with all the other research. How did they get a radically different result that stated more AN input not less?

 

Too much glutamate release, or hyperactivity if NMDA cells is what does this.

You need to think of tinnitus like phantom limb syndrome. When one limb goes away, the two areas in the postcentral gyrus become more sensitive to their own signals in the absence of their neighbor. Like, if the house between you and another house suddenly disappeared you and that other house would interact more.

The auditory cortex generally rearranges in tinnitus.

 

I wonder if hearing regeneration can/will reverse this process.

 

Why does Auris Medical say increased activity in the audiotory nerve, and the BTA and a lot of other top researchers say reduction? How would ear plugs or cutting the AN explain Auris medical's model?

It looks to me like Auris Medical has a fringe hypothesis that claims to be semi-peripheral within it's acute phase. That's the problem it contradicts a ton of other research.


Central Gain hypothesis

 

The american medical association is guilty of neglect by not properly campaigning to warn people about noise damage and hearing loss. There are plenty of PSA's about smoking pot and there are warning labels on everything about choking and electrocution. I knew that loud noises could damage your ears but I had no idea that permanent tinnitus was a consequence. And it rewires your brain and causes other neurological symptoms. They spend alot of effort warning people about cigarettes and other stuff but I never heard a peep about tinnitus. Effum. We are still in the dark ages of medicine.

 

I have been interested also in the use of fungi (mushrooms) as medicine and especially in their use for epigenetic neurogenesis. The world's leading mycologist (mushroom expert) is Paul Stamets. There is a video from a conference he presented at in 2017 where he discusses this in some detail toward the end of the video (start it at the 31 min mark and watch it until the end):

Paul Stamets: Psilocybin Mushrooms & The...