Active clinical trials for "Tinnitus"

This is a four arm, patient subtyping and parameter optimisation study for a neuromodulation treatment for tinnitus.

The goal of the study is to reduce tinnitus (ringing in the ear) loudness and improve the quality of life for those that are affected by tinnitus. This study will enroll subjects who have constant and bothersome tinnitus with no greater than a mild hearing loss up to 6 kHz, and no greater than a moderate hearing loss in the tinnitus frequencies. Subjects must also have the ability to alter the loudness or pitch of the ringing in their ears by performing a head, neck, face, or upper body movement. Subjects will be given both the treatment and sham arms (the study will randomly assign which arm is administered first) and will have a washout period of 6 weeks after each arm. The study will take approximately 36 weeks for subjects to complete and will enroll up to 300 individuals.

Twenty patients with tinnitus and a typical noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) audiogram were included. Each subject underwent an otoscopic examination, distortion product otoacoustic emissions, tinnitus-match testing, Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and serum zinc level analyses. After 2 months of treatment with zinc, all tests were repeated.

BACKGROUND: Tinnitus is a nonspecific symptom of hearing disorder characterized by the sensation of buzzing, ringing, clicking, pulsations, and other noises in the ear. Despite a variety of treatments, many patients with chronic tinnitus ask for more active ways in coping with their tinnitus. Gold standard treatment in chronic tinnitus is a comprehensive directive counseling explaining the underlying mechanisms leading to the tinnitus percept. Therefore a neuro-music therapeutic treatment based on a bio-psycho-social framework was developed and compared to a counselling-only control group. INTERVENTION: two standardized protocols for tinnitus therapy were defined ("neuro-music therapy" vs. "counselling")

Tinnitus is defined as the perception of sound in the absence of a external source. About 15 % of the population is believed to experience tinnitus and for about 20 % of them it may become a very serious problem. Total comprehension of tinnitus pathophysiology has not yet been achieved, but modern theories focus in brain hyperactivity following inner ear damage, with involvement of various neurotransmitters. Piribedil,a dopamin agonist, has been used to treat tinnitus, focusing in dopamine release, which is inhibitory. Electrophysiological methods,like acoustic otoemissions and electrocochleography may reveal the changes in peripherical and central auditory pathways and help to choose the specific patients who could benefit from piribedil treatment.

Participants with hearing loss and Tinnitus will wear hearing aids with amplification-only or with an added sound, and have their tinnitus level evaluated before and after intervention.

The study compares the short-term tinnitus reduction following a single oxytocin intervention with a placebo control condition.

Prevalence of chronic subjective tinnitus is rising with age and associated with maladaptive oscillatory changes in auditory as well as non-auditory regions of the brain such as the insula and the anterior cingulate cortex which are known to be key points within the salience and distress networks of the brain.Thus, we are conducting a clinical trial by implementing those auditory as well as non-auditory regions into a tomographical neurofeedback Training (ToNF) -protocol. Prior to 12 electroencephalography (EEG) -based ToNF-trainings with 36 older participants using standardized Low Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography Software (sLORETA, Pascual-Marqui 2002), participants' brains will be measured using structural magnet resonance imaging (sMRI) in order to identify potential structural markers for training success (e.g. cortical thickness). Training success will be measured by oscillatory change via EEG before and after the training period as well as by means of follow-up measures. Furthermore, a comprehensive battery of behavioral and psychometric standardized self-report questionnaires will be applied. Based on this multifocal (Insula, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex & auditory cortex) ToNF we expect oscillatory changes resulting in decreased tinnitus symptoms such as perceived loudness and distress.

The purpose of this research study is to determine whether the Brain Fitness Program-Tinnitus affects how tinnitus is perceived and if its use aids in the recovery of cognitive functions that may be affected by tinnitus. The investigators hope to better understand areas of the brain involved with or changed because of tinnitus. The investigators also hope to see if the Brain Fitness Program-Tinnitus impacts changes in those areas of the brain the investigators believe may be affected by tinnitus.

Tinnitus is a phantom auditory perception of meaningless sound, meaning that there is registration of sound in the absence of an external or internal acoustic stimulus. It is a common problem (prevalence 7-19%) which may interfere with the ability to lead a normal life. Unfortunately, it is a very difficult symptom to treat because there are hardly any therapeutic options for the cause of tinnitus. Most therapies focus on alleviating the condition rather than treating the cause. Tinnitus is thought to be generated in the brain, as a result of functional reorganization of auditory neural pathways and tonotopic maps in the central auditory system, following damage to the peripheral auditory system. Repetitive Transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a therapy, based on this concept of reorganization in the auditory cortex. It uses a pulsed magnetic field to disrupt the neural circuit and to thereby (temporarily) excite or inhibit certain brain areas, leading to the suppression of tinnitus.