Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 10, 2026

A Protocol for the Administration of Real-Time fMRI Neurofeedback Training
Published on: August 24, 2017
Tinnitus and pain
1School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX 75083-0688, USA. amoller@utdallas.edu
Abstract:
Tinnitus has many similarities with the symptoms of neurological disorders such as paresthesia and central neuropathic pain. There is considerable evidence that the symptoms and signs of some forms of tinnitus and central neuropathic pain are caused by functional changes in specific parts of the central nervous system and that these changes are caused by expression of neural plasticity. The changes in the auditory nervous system that cause tinnitus and the changes in the somatosensory systems that cause central neuropathic pain may have been initiated from the periphery, i.e. the ear or the auditory nerve for tinnitus and receptors and peripheral nerves in the body for pain. In the chronic condition of tinnitus and pain, abnormalities in the periphery may no longer play a role in the pathology, but the tinnitus is still referred to the ear and central neuropathic pain is still referred to the location on the body of the original pathology. In this chapter we will discuss specific similarities between tinnitus and pain, and compare tinnitus with other phantom disorders. Since much more is known about pain than about tinnitus, it is valuable to take advantage of the knowledge about pain in efforts to understand the pathophysiology of tinnitus and find treatments for tinnitus.
Related Concept Videos
Pain
Blood and Nerve Supply to the Bones
Nutrient Artery
The nutrient artery is the main blood vessel that enters the diaphysis via the nutrient foramen. While most long bones have only one nutrient foramen, large bones, such as the femur, may have two. This...
Nociception
Hearing
Analgesia and Pain Management
Sound Intensity Level
The human ear can perceive an extensive range of sound intensity, necessitating the use of the logarithmic scale to define a physical quantity—the intensity level. It is a ratio of two intensities and hence a...

