Sense and Sensibility: A Review of the Behavioral Neuroscience of Tinnitus Sound Therapy and a New Typology.

Abstract

Tinnitus Sound Therapy is not a single strategy. It consists of many different sound types, targeting many different mechanisms. Therapies that use sound to cover, reduce attention to, or facilitate habituation of tinnitus are among the most common tinnitus treatment paradigms. Recent history has seen a proliferation of sound therapies, but they have each been criticized for having limited empirical support. In this review, Sound Therapy's modern history will be described, and a typology will be introduced and discussed in light of current behavioral neuroscience research. It will be argued that contributing factors to the limited evidence for the efficacy of Sound Therapy are its diversity, plural modes of action, and absence of a clear typology. Despite gaps in understanding the efficacy of sound's effects on tinnitus, there is compelling evidence for its multiple, but related, neurophysiological mechanisms. Evidence suggests that sound may reduce tinnitus through its presence, context, reaction, and potentially adaptation. This review provides insights into the neurocognitive basis of these tinnitus Sound Therapy modes. It concludes that a unifying classification is needed to secure and advance arguments in favor of Sound Therapy.