Tinnitus Traces In Brain

Signals relating to the constant ringing noise of tinnitus have been mapped across the brain of a patient undergoing surgery.

15:06 24 April 2015

For the first time, a man with tinnitus was monitored to trace his epileptic seizures, with 164 electrodes placed directly onto his brain. This allows the researchers to compare brain activity when his tinnitus was loud and when it was quiet. They spotted differences spread over a surprisingly wide set of brain areas. 

 

"Once we had that contrast between the normal tinnitus and the suppressed tinnitus trials... we could compare the brain activity between those two states," said co-author William Sedley, a doctor and neuroscientist at Newcastle University. 

 

He added: "Rather than just a small area of auditory cortex... we found that these correlates of tinnitus were present throughout a huge proportion of the brain areas we sampled," 

 

 

Meanwhile, Dr Phillip Gander, from the University of Iowa in the US, said: "It is such a rarity that a person requiring invasive electrode monitoring for epilepsy also has tinnitus, that we aim to study every such person if they are willing," 

 

However, the scientists explained that more tests are needed and that the condition can vary. 

 

"It would be nice to get a few more cases as they come along, if they do, to try and compare them and see commonalities and differences," Dr Sedley explained.