scieee Science in your language
[en] (orig)
Moment-to-moment variability of the auditory
phantom perception in chronic tinnitus
WSchlee1,JHerrmann2,RPryss2,MReichert2,BLangguth1
1ClinicandPoliclinicforPsychiatryandPsychotherapy,
UniversityHospitalRegensburg,Germany
2InstituteofDatabasesandInformationSystems,
UniversityofUlm,Germany
With a prevalence of about 70%, the majority of patients that undergo
cochlearimplantationalsoreportaperceptionoftinnituspriortooperation.
Followingimplantation,somepatientsreportanimprovementoftinnituswhile
thetinnitusworsensinothercases.Subjectivetinnitus,ingeneral,isdefinedas
anauditoryperceptionintheabsenceofanyphysicallyidentifiablesourcefor
it. The patientstypically report a constant ringing, buzzing orhissingin the
ear,whichcanleadtoseriouspsychologicaldistressincluding depression,
insomniaandanxiety.
Severalevidenceexists,thattheperceptionoftinnitusisnotconstantduring
theeverydaylifeandratherfluctuationsfromonemomenttotheotherand
thattheamountoffluctuationrelatestothegenerallyperceived tinnitus-
relateddistress.Forexample,electricalstimulationofthecochleacanchange
this perceptual variability leading to longer and more episodeswherethe
tinnitus is 'off'. In order to measure this moment-to-moment variability of
tinnitusperception,wedevelopedanexperiencesamplingapplicationrunning
onsmartphonesthatisabletotracktheindividualtinnitusperception and
distress during the day under real world conditions. The longitudinal data
collected by the app might also be helpful for the adjustment of the CI
settings.
Additionally,weassessedthemoment-to-momentvariabilityofbrainactivity
intheauditorycortexusingmagnetoencephalography.Chronictinnitus is
usuallyassociatedwithadecreaseofthealphafrequencyoscillatorypowerin
temporalareas.Hereweshow,thatalsothemoment-to-momentvariabilityof
thealphaactivityislargelyreducedinchronictinnitus.Mostimportantly,itcan
beshownthatthisneuronalvariabilityisassociatedwiththetinnitusduration.
Subjectswithalongerhistoryoftinnitusshowlessalphavariabilityinauditory
regions.Whetherthesechangesinneuronalvariabilityrelatetotheperceptual
variabilityremainstobeseen.
Thisabstractwaspresentedatthe13thInternationalConferenceonCochlear
ImplantsandOtherImplantableAuditory Technologies, Munich, Germany,
June18-21,2014