Reducing Tinnitus via Inhibitory Influence of the Sensorimotor System on Auditory Cortical Activity
Sabados A, Kim C, Rampp S, Bergherr E, Buchfelder M, Schnell O, Müller-Voggel N (2025)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2025
Journal
Book Volume: 45
Article Number: e0581242025
Journal Issue: 17
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0581-24.2025
Abstract
Tinnitus is the subjective perception of a sound without corresponding external acoustic stimuli. Research highlights the influence of the sensorimotor system on tinnitus perception. Associated neuronal processes, however, are insufficiently understood, and it remains unclear how and at which hierarchical level the sensorimotor system interacts with the tinnitus-processing auditory system. We therefore asked 23 patients suffering from chronic tinnitus (11 males) to perform specific exercises, aimed at relaxing or tensing the jaw area, which temporarily modulated tinnitus perception. Associated neuronal processes were assessed using magnetencephalography. Results show that chronic tinnitus patients experienced their tinnitus as weaker and less annoying after completion of relaxing compared with tensing exercises. Furthermore, (1) sensorimotor alpha power and alpha-band connectivity directed from the somatosensory to the auditory cortex increased and (2) gamma power in the auditory cortex reduced, which (3) related to reduced tinnitus annoyance perception on a trial-by-trial basis in the relaxed state. No effects were revealed for 23 control participants without tinnitus (six males) performing the same experiment. We conclude that the increase in directed alpha-band connectivity from the somatosensory to the auditory cortex most likely reflects the transmission of inhibition from the somatosensory to the auditory cortex during relaxation, where concurrently tinnitus-related gamma power reduces. We suggest that revealed neuronal processes are transferable to other tinnitus-modulating systems beyond the sensorimotor one that is involved in attentional or emotional tinnitus modulation and provides deeper mechanistic insights into how and through which channels phantom sound perception might be modulated on a neuronal level.
Authors with CRIS profile
Anne Sabados
Department of Neurosurgery
Cora Kim
Department of Neurosurgery
Stefan Rampp
Department of Neurosurgery
Michael Buchfelder
Lehrstuhl für Neurochirurgie
Oliver Schnell
Lehrstuhl für Neurochirurgie
Nadia Müller-Voggel
Department of Neurosurgery
Involved external institutions
Germany (DE)How to cite
APA:
Sabados, A., Kim, C., Rampp, S., Bergherr, E., Buchfelder, M., Schnell, O., & Müller-Voggel, N. (2025). Reducing Tinnitus via Inhibitory Influence of the Sensorimotor System on Auditory Cortical Activity. The Journal of Neuroscience, 45(17). https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0581-24.2025
MLA:
Sabados, Anne, et al. "Reducing Tinnitus via Inhibitory Influence of the Sensorimotor System on Auditory Cortical Activity." The Journal of Neuroscience 45.17 (2025).
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