Neural Correlates of Tinnitus
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An Investigation of the Effect of Tinnitus on underlying Neural Processes, Cortical Structural integrity and Auditory Resting State Networks
IRAS ID
139931
Contact name
Vanessa A Sluming
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Tinnitus is the perception of sound, such as tones or other noise, without any external source of sound. It is often referred to as 'ringing of the ears'. Most people will experience tinnitus at some point in their lives, but for the majority of people this will be a transient, or very short lived, perception. In the longer term tinnitus symptoms can be classified as acute (when the person experiences ringing in ears for a few days or weeks) or chronic (if the symptoms last for at least 6 months). In the UK, about 10% (approximately 6 million) of adults have reported constant mild tinnitus. Importantly, it has been found that the quality of life was seriously adversely affected by tinnitus symptoms in 1% (60,000 people) of these sufferers (assessed with a standardize questionnaire, Tinnitus Handicap Inventory, routinely used in clinical assessment) – these tinnitus sufferers find tinnitus seriously bothersome. In the worst cases, tinnitus may drive the sufferer to suicide. Previous studies (including our own) have identified that there are structural and functional brain differences between patients with bothersome tinnitus and age, sex and hearing matched healthy controls. In this study, we aim to investigate brain structure and function in those with bothersome tinnitus and those with non-bothersome tinnitus with the intention of better informing the development of new interventions.
REC name
North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/NW/1473
Date of REC Opinion
3 Feb 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion