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Tinnitus suppression by electric stimulation of the auditory nerve

Electric stimulation of the auditory nerve via a cochlear implant (CI) has been observed to suppress tinnitus, but parameters of an effective electric stimulus remain unexplored. Here we used CI research processors to systematically vary pulse rate, electrode place, and current amplitude of electric...

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Autores principales: Chang, Janice E., Zeng, Fan-Gang
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3315113/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22479238
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2012.00019
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author Chang, Janice E.
Zeng, Fan-Gang
author_facet Chang, Janice E.
Zeng, Fan-Gang
author_sort Chang, Janice E.
collection PubMed
description Electric stimulation of the auditory nerve via a cochlear implant (CI) has been observed to suppress tinnitus, but parameters of an effective electric stimulus remain unexplored. Here we used CI research processors to systematically vary pulse rate, electrode place, and current amplitude of electric stimuli, and measure their effects on tinnitus loudness and stimulus loudness as a function of stimulus duration. Thirteen tinnitus subjects who used CIs were tested, with nine (70%) being “Responders” who achieved greater than 30% tinnitus loudness reduction in response to at least one stimulation condition and the remaining four (30%) being “Non-Responders” who had less than 30% tinnitus loudness reduction in response to any stimulus condition tested. Despite large individual variability, several interesting observations were made between stimulation parameters, tinnitus characteristics, and tinnitus suppression. If a subject's tinnitus was suppressed by one stimulus, then it was more likely to be suppressed by another stimulus. If the tinnitus contained a “pulsating” component, then it would be more likely suppressed by a given combination of stimulus parameters than tinnitus without these components. There was also a disassociation between the subjects' clinical speech processor and our research processor in terms of their effectiveness in tinnitus suppression. Finally, an interesting dichotomy was observed between loudness adaptation to electric stimuli and their effects on tinnitus loudness, with the Responders exhibiting higher degrees of loudness adaptation than the Non-Responders. Although the mechanisms underlying these observations remain to be resolved, their clinical implications are clear. When using a CI to manage tinnitus, the clinical processor that is optimized for speech perception needs to be customized for optimal tinnitus suppression.
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spelling pubmed-33151132012-04-04 Tinnitus suppression by electric stimulation of the auditory nerve Chang, Janice E. Zeng, Fan-Gang Front Syst Neurosci Neuroscience Electric stimulation of the auditory nerve via a cochlear implant (CI) has been observed to suppress tinnitus, but parameters of an effective electric stimulus remain unexplored. Here we used CI research processors to systematically vary pulse rate, electrode place, and current amplitude of electric stimuli, and measure their effects on tinnitus loudness and stimulus loudness as a function of stimulus duration. Thirteen tinnitus subjects who used CIs were tested, with nine (70%) being “Responders” who achieved greater than 30% tinnitus loudness reduction in response to at least one stimulation condition and the remaining four (30%) being “Non-Responders” who had less than 30% tinnitus loudness reduction in response to any stimulus condition tested. Despite large individual variability, several interesting observations were made between stimulation parameters, tinnitus characteristics, and tinnitus suppression. If a subject's tinnitus was suppressed by one stimulus, then it was more likely to be suppressed by another stimulus. If the tinnitus contained a “pulsating” component, then it would be more likely suppressed by a given combination of stimulus parameters than tinnitus without these components. There was also a disassociation between the subjects' clinical speech processor and our research processor in terms of their effectiveness in tinnitus suppression. Finally, an interesting dichotomy was observed between loudness adaptation to electric stimuli and their effects on tinnitus loudness, with the Responders exhibiting higher degrees of loudness adaptation than the Non-Responders. Although the mechanisms underlying these observations remain to be resolved, their clinical implications are clear. When using a CI to manage tinnitus, the clinical processor that is optimized for speech perception needs to be customized for optimal tinnitus suppression. Frontiers Media S.A. 2012-03-29 /pmc/articles/PMC3315113/ /pubmed/22479238 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2012.00019 Text en Copyright © 2012 Chang and Zeng. http://www.frontiersin.org/licenseagreement This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License, which permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in other forums, provided the original authors and source are credited.
spellingShingle Neuroscience
Chang, Janice E.
Zeng, Fan-Gang
Tinnitus suppression by electric stimulation of the auditory nerve
title Tinnitus suppression by electric stimulation of the auditory nerve
title_full Tinnitus suppression by electric stimulation of the auditory nerve
title_fullStr Tinnitus suppression by electric stimulation of the auditory nerve
title_full_unstemmed Tinnitus suppression by electric stimulation of the auditory nerve
title_short Tinnitus suppression by electric stimulation of the auditory nerve
title_sort tinnitus suppression by electric stimulation of the auditory nerve
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3315113/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22479238
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2012.00019
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