A new study has revealed that an extensive network of the brain is affected by tinnitus, a noise or ringing in the head or ear. It was previously believed that only the auditory region of the brain is affected by tinnitus. Published in Current Biology Thursday, the study has opened doors for development of more effective treatments for the condition in the future.
Efforts were made by Phillip Gander, of University of Iowa, and William Sedley, of Newcastle University in the UK to record directly from the brain of a person with tinnitus to identify the brain networks having a link with the condition that makes the sufferer perceive a sound when there is no external source in existence.
“Perhaps the most remarkable finding was that activity directly linked to tinnitus was very extensive and spanned a large proportion of the part of the brain we measured from. "In contrast, the brain responses to a sound we played that mimicked [the subject's] tinnitus were localized to just a tiny area”, study co-author Will Sedley, a researcher at Newcastle University in England, said in a press release.
The researchers brought into use specialized invasive brain monitoring technology for the study, which was aimed at identifying brain network responsible for tinnitus. Use of the monitoring technique is typically associated with epilepsy surgery, however it proved to be a significant help for tracking the neurological origins of tinnitus.
Gander said the study findings will play a big role in gaining deep insight and developing treatment for tinnitus as it is now known that tinnitus is not encoded like normal sound. The researchers have also understood that it may not be possible to treat the condition by simply focusing on a localized part of the hearing system.
The new research has made it crystal clear that the way tinnitus processes in the brain is different from how we normally hear or process sound.
Efforts were made by Phillip Gander, of University of Iowa, and William Sedley, of Newcastle University in the UK to record directly from the brain of a person with tinnitus to identify the brain networks having a link with the condition that makes the sufferer perceive a sound when there is no external source in existence.
“Perhaps the most remarkable finding was that activity directly linked to tinnitus was very extensive and spanned a large proportion of the part of the brain we measured from. "In contrast, the brain responses to a sound we played that mimicked [the subject's] tinnitus were localized to just a tiny area”, study co-author Will Sedley, a researcher at Newcastle University in England, said in a press release.
The researchers brought into use specialized invasive brain monitoring technology for the study, which was aimed at identifying brain network responsible for tinnitus. Use of the monitoring technique is typically associated with epilepsy surgery, however it proved to be a significant help for tracking the neurological origins of tinnitus.
Gander said the study findings will play a big role in gaining deep insight and developing treatment for tinnitus as it is now known that tinnitus is not encoded like normal sound. The researchers have also understood that it may not be possible to treat the condition by simply focusing on a localized part of the hearing system.
The new research has made it crystal clear that the way tinnitus processes in the brain is different from how we normally hear or process sound.
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