Study to Test New Tinnitus 'Treatment' [View all]

[n2doc]

ScienceDaily (Mar. 20, 2012) — A new clinical trial is to test whether a pocket-sized device that uses sound simulation to reboot faulty 'wiring' in the brain could cure people with the debilitating hearing disorder tinnitus.

The CR® neuromodulation device delivers specific sequences of sounds to disrupt the pattern of neurons firing in the brain. It is believed that conditions such as hearing loss can cause neurons in the brain to fire simultaneously instead of in a random pattern which can cause an overload and lead to a ringing or buzzing in the ear, the classic symptom of tinnitus.

The study is being led by the National Biomedical Research Unit in Hearing (NBRUH) which is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), a partnership bringing together expertise from researchers at The University of Nottingham and the Medical Research Council Institute of Hearing with leading clinicians from Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Dr Derek Hoare, a research fellow at the NBRUH, said: "In the UK, around five million people suffer from tinnitus, a debilitating condition which can be exceptionally difficult to treat due to the huge variation in symptoms and severity between individual patients.

more

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120320115043.htm