Tinnitus Research Initiative (TRI) 2019 Conference

I guess this interviewee needs no introduction. He's quite the controversial figure, and I'm sure this video will spark plenty of debate.

Pawel Jastreboff discusses the mechanisms behind TRT and looks back on over thirty years of working in the tinnitus field.

As you might know TRT is no longer generally considered the gold standard of tinnitus treatment, see for instance this recent study.

 

Here is Ana Belén Elgoyhen talking about her quest to find drug candidates for tinnitus by exploring off-label options as well as new compounds. This is done within the pharma work group of the TRI. She also describes some of the challenges, such as the lack of adequate animal models for tinnitus, and why this is inhibiting pharma companies from jumping into the field.

Sit tight because we will be publishing our final five videos in quick sequence!

 

William (Billy) Hal Martin talks about his decades of experience working with patients with tinnitus and sound-tolerance disorders.

As professor of otorhinolaryngology at the National University of Singapore, he explores which approaches and treatments might help to reduce the suffering of each individual patient by looking at the person holistically and tackling a wide range of health issues from possible autoimmune disorders to sleep issues and neck problems.

Further, he discusses the current (poor) state of tinnitus care in Asia.

 

And here's the next video, as promised. This one is an opportunity to learn more about somatic tinnitus and its treatment options, so a must see for anyone experiencing neck or jaw problems!

Sarah Michiels is one of the very few researchers focussing specifically on somatic tinnitus. We've worked closely with her to help her gather data from the Tinnitus Talk community for her research.

In this video she explains the concept of somatic tinnitus and how she tries to help patients reduce their tinnitus complaints through physiotherapy.

 

Continuing with our sprint to get the last few videos out, here is Nathan Weisz speaking about auditory processing. It's a fascinating concept (which I must admit, I don't fully understand) that basically posits that what we hear is only partly to do with the sound waves that reach our ear — a big part of it is due to predictions that our brain makes. Such predictive processing could work differently for people with tinnitus, perhaps even explaining why some people are predisposed to getting tinnitus.

 

Here is Josef Rauschecker talking about the impact of sleep and serotonin levels on tinnitus severity, and what we can learn from that. He makes it personal by recounting his own experiences with tinnitus, which he struggles with from time to time. I can attest that he is a very passionate researcher committed to the cause of finding a cure.

Of course, Josef was also a guest on the very first episode of the Tinnitus Talk Podcast, which you can listen to here.

 

Our second to last video featuring a tinnitus researcher: This is Richard Salvi speaking about hyperacusis, the different types that have been recognised and their presumed underlying mechanisms. He also goes into two animal models he developed that could prove beneficial in developing new treatments.

 

The last researcher featured in this series is David Baguley, who speaks about the impact of chemotherapy drugs on hearing and tinnitus, and how this should be better managed. He also speaks quite extensively about his views on the tinnitus research field as a whole and where it's headed.

Pfew, I'm glad we (finally) managed to get all of them out! With a big thank you to both @Markku and @Autumnly who did most of the heavy lifting in terms of editing and design.

We do have one final video for you, to conclude the series with. It will feature the results of a survey we conducted among TRI participants... coming soon!

 

And... our last TRI video! After the conference, we sent out a survey to all participants, and 88 of them responded. We asked some of the most frequently recurring questions that appear here on the forum about research. For instance, what is the relation between tinnitus loudness and distress? Or will curing hearing loss cure tinnitus?

Watch the video to find out what they answered. Then, tell us what you think. Share on social media. Come up with ideas for new research projects. Let's drive research forward together!

As you might know there not be a TRI 2020 conference due to Corona. But we won't stop finding new ways to get you research information, and more importantly involve the community in research efforts.

Tell us what you think should be our next research project!