Abstract
Background: Many patients show modulation of tinnitus by gaze, jaw or neck movements, reflecting abnormal sensorimotor integration, and interaction between various inputs. Postural control is based on multi-sensory integration (visual, vestibular, somatosensory, and oculomotor) and indeed there is now evidence that posture can also be influenced by sound. Perhaps tinnitus influences posture similarly to external sound. This study examines the quality of postural performance in quiet stance in patients with modulated tinnitus. Methods: Twenty-three patients with highly modulated tinnitus were selected in the ENT service. Twelve reported exclusively or predominately left tinnitus, eight right, and three bilateral. Eighteen control subjects were also tested. Subjects were asked to fixate a target at 40 cm for 51 s; posturography was performed with the platform (Technoconcept, 40 Hz) for both the eyes open and eyes closed conditions. Results: For both conditions, tinnitus subjects showed abnormally high lateral body sway (SDx). This was corroborated by fast Fourrier Transformation (FFTx) and wavelet analysis. For patients with left tinnitus only, medio-lateral sway increased significantly when looking away from the center. Conclusion: Similarly to external sound stimulation, tinnitus could influence lateral sway by activating attention shift, and perhaps vestibular responses. Poor integration of sensorimotor signals is another possibility. Such abnormalities would be accentuated in left tinnitus because of the importance of the right cerebral cortex in processing both auditory–tinnitus eye position and attention.
Highlights
Tinnitus is an auditory perception, experienced in the absence of any external or internal auditory stimulus
The ANOVA run on data for the wavelet analysis showed that the postural instability index (PII) and the power spectrum of the antero-posterior (PIy) and medio-lateral sway (PIx) for all frequency bands were significantly higher under the eyes closed condition than under the eyes open condition
Perceived tinnitus In this paper we study subjects with somatic tinnitus who spontaneously noticed a modulation of their subjective tinnitus perception in pitch or intensity after any kind of movement or muscular exercise or muscular pressure
Summary
Tinnitus is an auditory perception, experienced in the absence of any external or internal auditory stimulus (perception of a sound without a recordable source). Subjective tinnitus is commonly described in terms of a hissing or buzzing sound. It can be heard in one ear or both or perceived in a central position (Shulman, 1991). Results: For both conditions, tinnitus subjects showed abnormally high lateral body sway (SDx). This was corroborated by fast Fourrier Transformation (FFTx) and wavelet analysis. Conclusion: to external sound stimulation, tinnitus could influence lateral sway by activating attention shift, and perhaps vestibular responses. Poor integration of sensorimotor signals is another possibility Such abnormalities would be accentuated in left tinnitus because of the importance of the right cerebral cortex in processing both auditory– tinnitus eye position and attention
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