Development of Objective Electrophysiological Tests for Tinnitus Based on Long-Lasting After-Discharges in the Inferior Colliculus
Abstract
Tinnitus is the sensation of ringing in the ears in the absence of a corresponding, physical sound and is a symptom of a pathological response of the auditory system. It is common in the aging population and in military veterans in particular. Most often, tinnitus is associated with hearing loss due to exposure to loud noise. There is no objective or diagnostic test for tinnitus, little understanding of its causes, and no curative treatment. This projects goal is to create an electrophysiological test for tinnitus. We have shown that there are measurable and detectable changes in the electrophysiological activity in the central auditory system in response to a long-duration sound; this is a long-lasting after discharge where neurons continue to fire 2-3 minutes after the sound has stopped. We test whether this type of after discharge behavior is pathologically modified in tinnitus subjects to become continuous, and doing so, it generates a signal that the brain mistakes for a phantom sound. The basis of our tinnitus test is a presumed difference in the electrophysiology in parts of the auditory system generating the tinnitus signal from other parts of the auditory system. Our current findings show that long-duration sounds produce after discharge behavior and can modify tone-evoked responses in subpopulations of neurons in normal hearing mice, and these patterns may change in mice with tinnitus. The results from the animal studies will be used in human subjects with and without tinnitus to investigate the sound-evoked auditory potentials before and after presentation of a long duration sound are related to tinnitus.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 2021
- Accession Number
- AD1138305
Entities
People
- Douglas L. Oliver
Organizations
- University of Connecticut