Tinnitus MRI Study at Georgetown University Medical Center

Written by Anna Seydell and Amber Leaver

Tinnitus often co-occurs with hearing loss, likening the condition to phantom limb pain. Losing hearing at certain frequencies is similar to losing a limb: the brain cells corresponding to the missing region of the frequency spectrum or of the body lose their natural input. This can cause deviant activity in these cells, which can lead to a phantom perception that matches the missing input. But why do some people seem to experience tinnitus in the absence of hearing loss, while many other people with significant hearing loss do not experience tinnitus at all?

As an interdisciplinary team of researchers at Georgetown University Medical Center, with support from the Tinnitus Research Initiative and the NIDCD, we are investigating these questions, and many others. Our recent research suggests that a network of non-auditory structures in the brain may function as a “noise-cancellation system”, effectively tuning out uninformative background noise by dampening abnormal activity in auditory centers of the brain. We hypothesize that when this system is compromised, tinnitus is the result. These same noise-canceling structures are also involved in brain networks that mediate mood and sleep, which may explain why tinnitus is often modulated by stress and fatigue and can co-occur with depression.

In order to better understand the brain changes associated with tinnitus and hearing loss, we use a combination of detailed audiological evaluations and an MRI to look at both brain anatomy and function in a variety of individuals: tinnitus patients (with or without measurable hearing loss), people without tinnitus who have similar hearing profiles, and people who have neither tinnitus nor hearing loss. We are particularly interested in finding patients whose tinnitus varies strongly in intensity over time, potentially to a point where they do not perceive it at all for a while. This would enable us to identify changes in an individual’s brain that are directly related to changes in tinnitus, which could give us important hints as to where a treatment should be targeted, and may also help us find an objective indicator of tinnitus.

We’ve got the funding, we’ve got the staff, we’ve got the equipment, and we’ve got the motivation. Now we need your help! If you live in the DC area, have experienced tinnitus over the past couple of months for more than a few minutes at a time, have no metal implants (such as pacemakers, aneurysm clips, or shrapnel) in your body, and are between 18 and 80 years old, please consider participating in our research study. For more information, email rauscheckerlab@georgetown.edu or call 202-687-8842. We look forward to hearing from you!