Scientists reboot brain to cure ringing in ears
January 13th, 2011 - 4:28 pm ICT by IANSLondon, Jan 13 (IANS) Scientists may have come up with a cure for tinnitus - persistent ringing in the ears.The technique, which ‘reboots’ the brain, has been successfully tested on rats. Clinical trials on humans are due to start in the next few months.
Tinnitus can affect one or both ears and can also sound like whines, rattling, low beeps or a rushing sound, the journal Nature reports.
Loud noise often triggers tinnitus, which destroys cells in the inner ear that transmit sound signals to the brain, according to the Daily Mail.
Scientists believe the brain tries to compensate for the missing signals, leading to phantom sounds.
Other causes of tinnitus include injury and normal ageing.
The US researchers carried out experiments on tinnitus-affected rats designed to trigger changes in the ‘auditory cortex’ - the part of the brain that responds to sound.
Study leader Michael Kilgard from the University of Texas said: “We are retuning the brain from a state where it generates tinnitus to a state that does not generate tinnitus. We are eliminating the source of the tinnitus.”
By stimulating the vagus nerve, a large nerve running from the head and neck to the abdomen, with a small electrode at the same time as playing a high-pitched sound, they banished tinnitus from the rats.
Treated rats showed responses that indicated the ringing in their ears had stopped. Animals that did not receive the therapy continued to display signs of tinnitus.
When the vagus nerve is stimulated, it releases chemicals that can alter brain circuitry.
- Nerve stimulation may thwart tinnitus: Study - Jan 13, 2011
- Novel treatment halts 'phantom' noises in ears - Mar 19, 2012
- Temporary changes in brain speed up learning - Apr 14, 2011
- Invisible infrared light could soon activate heart, ear cells - Mar 28, 2011
- Scientists get closer to understanding how brain's 'hearing center' works - Oct 19, 2010
- How brain learns and encodes new skills - Apr 14, 2011
- New imaging technique helps pinpoint tinnitus in brain - Oct 04, 2009
- Temporary hearing deprivation can lead to 'lazy ear' - Mar 11, 2010
- Not enough being done to support tinnitus sufferers: Study - Nov 04, 2009
- Boffins identify gene for sudden unexpected death in epilepsy - Apr 14, 2010
- Martin suffers from ear trouble - May 06, 2012
- Cochlear implants bring back music to hearing impaired ears - Jul 12, 2010
- Trial to see if electricity can shrink human heart - Apr 28, 2012
- Novel treatment helps paralysed rats walk again after spinal-cord injury - Sep 21, 2009
- How does brain catch up with sound of silence? - Feb 11, 2010
Tags: abdomen, auditory cortex, beeps, brain circuitry, clinical trials, daily mail, electrode, inner ear, journal nature, london jan, loud noise, pitched sound, rats, ringing in ears, ringing in the ears, sound signals, study leader, tinnitus, university of texas, vagus nerve