‘Nerve stimulation may thwart tinnitus’
Are you suffering from tinnitus? Fret not. Retune the brain, for a new study says that it could cure the condition which causes incessant ringing in the ears. Tinnitus is caused when brain overreacts to hearing damage and produces constant “phantom” sounds. And, currently there’s no cure.
But, scientists believe that the condition could be eliminated by tricking the brain into switching off the imaginary ringing.
In their study on rodents, the scientists banished tinnitus by electrically stimulating vagus nerve — a large nerve running from the head and neck to the abdomen — at the same time as playing sounds tuned to specific frequencies, the Daily Telegraph reported.
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. According to them, when the vagus nerve is stimulated it releases chemicals that open the brain circuitry to being rewired; playing the sounds at same time permanently undoes the original damage caused by the hearing loss.
Dr Michael Kilgard, from the University of Texas, who led the study, said: “When we paired tones with brief pulses of vagus nerve stimulation, we eliminated the physiological and behavioural symptoms of tinnitus in noise-exposed rats. “The key is that, unlike previous treatments, we’re not masking tinnitus, we’re not hiding the tinnitus. We are returning 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.” Preparations are now under way for a pilot trial due to be launched in Europe early this year.
—PTI
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