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Updated: Aug 30, 2026
Neuronavigation-guided Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Aphasia
Published on: May 6, 2016
Neuronavigated repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in patients with tinnitus: a short case series
Peter Eichhammer1, Berthold Langguth, Jörg Marienhagen
1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Universitaetstrasse 84, Regensburg 93053, Germany.
Background:
Clinical as well as neurophysiological and neuroimaging data suggest that chronic tinnitus resembles neuropsychiatric syndromes characterized by focal brain activation. Low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been proposed as an efficient method in treating brain hyperexcitability disorders by reducing cortical excitability.
Methods:
In three patients suffering from chronic tinnitus, the effect of magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography guided neuronavigated 1 Hz rTMS on auditory cortex activity was evaluated, using a sham controlled double-blind crossover design.
Results:
Two of three patients revealed clearly increased metabolic activity in circumscript areas of the primary auditory cortex (PAC), allowing a selective stimulation of these cortical areas with low-frequency rTMS. Considerable improvement in tinnitus was achieved in these patients.
Conclusions:
Neuronavigated rTMS of increased PAC activity may help to better understand the neuronal basis of chronic tinnitus and might offer a new option for treating auditory phantom perceptions like chronic tinnitus.
