RNS: Tinnitus
TIME: 2:06
URL: http://www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2008/tinnitus.htm
Overactive touch-sensing nerve cells explain common “ringing in the ears”
Acupuncture and similar methods to calm nerves in head and neck could relieve tinnitus, animal study suggests
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If you ever hear a high-pitched tone that seems to come from nowhere, chances are you’re among the one in 10 people who experience tinnitus.
Tinnitus, known as “ringing in the ears,” is a minor nuisance for some people. For others, though, tinnitus, which occurs when we hear sounds in our ears or head that have no outside source, can greatly interfere with normal life.
University of Michigan hearing researchers have discovered that nerves in the head and neck may be behind this racket in the brain. The findings are in animals, but they suggest that remedies such as acupuncture and trigger point therapy, focused on the head and neck, may be effective at relieving tinnitus in some people. Here’s Andi McDonnell with more.
McDonnell: Many baby boomers are noticing the strange phantom sounds of tinnitus as their hearing gets less keen after years of gradual damage. Returning war veterans often get tinnitus. People who have experienced dental work, whiplash, or other trauma to the head or neck may also be plagued by tinnitus. About 13 million people in the United States and Western Europe seek medical attention for it every year.
In studies in normal and deafened guinea pigs, U-M Kresge Hearing Research Institute scientists found that touch-sensing nerve cells in the head and neck – part of what’s called the somatosensory nervous system -- step up their activity in the brain after hearing cells are damaged. They think these touch-sensing neurons, if they become hyperactive, likely play an important role in tinnitus in some people.
Susan Shore is the lead author of the study and an associate professor in the U-M Departments of Otolaryngology and Molecular and Integrative Physiology. She does her research at the Kresge Hearing Research Institute at the U-M Medical School. In guinea pigs, Shore’s research team used tiny electronic sensors to record the activity of neurons in a part of the brain that‘s a central hub for signals from the ear, as well as other senses.
Shore: “We’ve shown that when the animal is deafened and we stimulate the somatosensory system, that the auditory neurons become much more responsive to the somatosensory system than they were in the normal system.”
McDonnell: It’s possible, says Shore, that the somatosensory system can overactivate nerve cells in this hearing hub in the brain and produce the sensation of tinnitus.
Shore: “It’s making these neurons respond as if there were a sound, when in fact there isn’t a sound.”
McDonnell: Shore says that the results suggest that some people with tinnitus may find effective relief in some already available therapies.
Shore: “What this study shows us is that in diagnosing tinnitus patients, we need to consider the somatosensory inputs as part of our diagnosis. Because certain treatments, for example acupuncture, or trigger point therapy that’s targeting somatosensory neurons, could in fact alleviate the tinnitus in certain patients.”
McDonnell:– Andi McDonnell, U-M Health System News |
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