Ringing in ears keeps brain more at attention,... - Tinnitus UK

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Ringing in ears keeps brain more at attention, less at rest, study finds. ScienceDaily

daverussell profile image
5 Replies

Just sharing in case anyone is also interested... Although a few years old and further research may have disputed or verified the findings, it is still fairly recent. It points to a couple of areas about tinnitus that I find interesting.

I've extracted the key points I thought interesting,

Firstly, the research points to a specific area of the brain:

"Using functional MRI to look for patterns across brain function and structure, the new study found that tinnitus is, in fact, in the hearers' heads -- in a region of the brain called the precuneus."

They posit that there maybe a particular area to look at - though I would suggest we should not raise hopes of this being something that could happen in the near future:

"Patients with recent-onset tinnitus did not show the differences in precuneus connectivity. Their scans looked more like the control groups, which begs the question of when and how changes in brain connectivity begin and whether they can be prevented or lessened."

I find concentration the most debilitating factor of tinnitus, so this was interesting.

"their attention may be engaged more with their tinnitus than necessary, and that may lessen their attention to other things. If you have bothersome tinnitus, this may be why you have concentration issues."

Sources: Universityof Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. (2017, August 25). Ringing in ears keeps brain more at attention, less at rest, study finds. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 29, 2021 from sciencedaily.com/releases/2...

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daverussell profile image
daverussell
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5 Replies
rabbits65 profile image
rabbits65

Thanks daverussell , I’m certainly interested in learning a bit more about this. “ Dam annoying thing” I did notice sometime ago that the USA have far more research going on about tinnitus.

Happyrosie profile image
Happyrosie

Thanks, daverussell

catman68 profile image
catman68

Thanks Dave you are becoming the font of knowledge for all things Tinnitus on this forum, all that has to be done now is finding a cure.

daverussell profile image
daverussell in reply to catman68

I'm no expert and I don't have a medical background. Just a personal interest. So use your own judgement. Thanks anyway.

starveycat profile image
starveycat

The brain hears a high pitched sound triggers the flight fight response, but their is no threat, but there is the noise, which again triggers the flight fight response . The brain becomes confused. It's a vicious circle.

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