Abstract
BackgroundThe phantom auditory perception of subjective tinnitus is associated with aberrant brain activity as evidenced by magneto- and electroencephalographic studies. We tested the hypotheses (1) that psychoacoustically measured tinnitus loudness is related to gamma oscillatory band power, and (2) that tinnitus loudness and tinnitus-related distress are related to distinct brain activity patterns as suggested by the distinction between loudness and distress experienced by tinnitus patients. Furthermore, we explored (3) how hearing impairment, minimum masking level, and (4) psychological comorbidities are related to spontaneous oscillatory brain activity in tinnitus patients.Methods and FindingsResting state oscillatory brain activity recorded electroencephalographically from 46 male tinnitus patients showed a positive correlation between gamma band oscillations and psychoacoustic tinnitus loudness determined with the reconstructed tinnitus sound, but not with the other psychoacoustic loudness measures that were used. Tinnitus-related distress did also correlate with delta band activity, but at electrode positions different from those associated with tinnitus loudness. Furthermore, highly distressed tinnitus patients exhibited a higher level of theta band activity. Moreover, mean hearing loss between 0.125 kHz and 16 kHz was associated with a decrease in gamma activity, whereas minimum masking levels correlated positively with delta band power. In contrast, psychological comorbidities did not express significant correlations with oscillatory brain activity.ConclusionDifferent clinically relevant tinnitus characteristics show distinctive associations with spontaneous brain oscillatory power. Results support hypothesis (1), but exclusively for the tinnitus loudness derived from matching to the reconstructed tinnitus sound. This suggests to preferably use the reconstructed tinnitus spectrum to determine psychoacoustic tinnitus loudness. Results also support hypothesis (2). Moreover, hearing loss and minimum masking level correlate with oscillatory power in distinctive frequency bands. The lack of an association between psychological comorbidities and oscillatory power may be attributed to the overall low level of mental health problems in the present sample.
Highlights
Tinnitus is an auditory percept that does not originate from a physical sound source but is generated within the auditory system
The lack of an association between psychological comorbidities and oscillatory power may be attributed to the overall low level of mental health problems in the present sample
Power spectra An initial ANOVA did not show significant differences for any frequency band between the tinnitus and the control group when averaging power across all 22 electrodes, whereas more detailed correlation analyses revealed significant interactions between tinnitus loudness, tinnitus-related distress, hearing loss and oscillatory band power depending on type of tinnitus loudness measure, oscillation frequency, and control for confounding factors
Summary
Tinnitus is an auditory percept that does not originate from a physical sound source but is generated within the auditory system. A subjective tinnitus is heard only by the affected individual. As hearing impairments become more common with advancing age, it is not surprising that the prevalence of tinnitus increases with age [3,4]. Concerning the impact of tinnitus on an individual, a perceptive component reflected by the subjectively perceived tinnitus loudness and an affective component reflected by the amount of tinnitus-related distress are distinguished [6,7]. The phantom auditory perception of subjective tinnitus is associated with aberrant brain activity as evidenced by magneto- and electroencephalographic studies. We explored (3) how hearing impairment, minimum masking level, and (4) psychological comorbidities are related to spontaneous oscillatory brain activity in tinnitus patients
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