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Published on: August 24, 2017
Functional imaging of unilateral tinnitus using fMRI
C P Lanting1, E De Kleine, H Bartels
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. c.p.lanting@med.umcg.nl
Conclusions:
This article shows that the inferior colliculus plays a key role in unilateral subjective tinnitus.
Objectives:
The major aim of this study was to determine tinnitus-related neural activity in the central auditory system of unilateral tinnitus subjects and compare this to control subjects without tinnitus.
Subjects And Methods:
Functional MRI (fMRI) was performed in 10 patients (5 males) with unilateral tinnitus (5 left-sided, 5 right-sided) and 12 healthy subjects (6 males); both groups had normal hearing or mild hearing loss. fMRI experiments were performed using a 3T Philips Intera Scanner. Auditory stimuli were presented left or right and consisted of dynamically rippled broadband noise with a sound pressure level of 40 or 70 dB SPL. The responses of the inferior colliculus and the auditory cortex to the stimuli were measured.
Results:
The response to sound in the inferior colliculus was elevated in tinnitus patients compared with controls without tinnitus.
