Identification of functional biomarkers for tinnitus and tinnitus+hyperacusis in humans

Abstract

Tinnitus is known as the sound people perceive, without an external stimulation. It affects around 15 – 20 % of the population. Until now, there is no single treatment to eliminate the tinnitus percept permanently, which is also owed by the fact, that the pathophysiological mechanisms are poorly understood and controversial debated. The majority of tinnitus literature suggests the tinnitus percept to be the result of elevated spontaneous activity that is translated to a tinnitus percept by neural gain. Few other studies – including our own – suggest tinnitus rather to be linked to reduced central gain. We here hypothesized that contrasting views about the neural correlate of tinnitus may be due to possible comorbidities as hyperacusis that might be linked to central activity patterns different from tinnitus and thereby might hide characteristics of tinnitus-specific brain activities.