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Written By: Editorial Team | Updated : June 27, 2014 9:55 AM IST
Patients with persistent ringing in their ears - a condition known as tinnitus - process emotions differently in the brain compared to those with normal hearing, says a study. 'When you hear annoying noises constantly that you cannot control, it may affect your emotional processing systems,' said Fatima Husain, speech and hearing science professor at University of Illinois in the US.
The researcher used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain scans to better understand how tinnitus affects the brain's ability to process emotions. Three groups of participants were used in the study: people with mild-to-moderate hearing loss and mild tinnitus; people with mild-to-moderate hearing loss without tinnitus; and a control group of age-matched people without hearing loss or tinnitus. Activity in the amygdala, a brain region associated with emotional processing, was lower in the tinnitus and hearing-loss patients than in people with normal hearing.
Tinnitus patients also showed more activity than normal-hearing people in two other brain regions associated with emotion, the parahippocampus and the insula. 'We thought that because people with tinnitus constantly hear a bothersome, unpleasant stimulus, they would have an even higher amount of activity in the amygdala when hearing these sounds, but it was lesser,' Husain added. The study appeared in the journal Brain Research.
How does tinnitus occur?
Sound waves travel from outside through the outer ear to the ear canal, and from there to the middle and inner ear. There are tiny delicate hairs in your inner ear which move according to the pressure of sound waves and help transform sound waves into electrical signals. These signals then travel to the brain's auditory cortex via the auditory nerve. When hair cells are damaged, that is, bent or broken, they can leak electrical impulses to the brain. So, the brain doesn't receive the signals it is expecting. This stimulates abnormal activity in the neurons, which results in the illusion of sound, or tinnitus.
What causes the tinnitus?
Tinnitus can actually be caused any number of reasons ranging from noise induced hearing loss to nerve disorders to side effects of certain medications. Here we describe the most common causes of tinnitus.
1. Exposure to loud noise
One of the most common reasons you may hear ringing in your ears or head is when you are exposed to loud noise over extended periods of time. For example, it more commonly hits people who work in noisy environments, or listen to constant loud music, or maybe are frequent clubbers.
2. Presbycusis
Age related hearing loss is called presbycusis. This is an irreversible condition since the damage is caused by degeneration of sensory cells which occurs with age.
Symptoms:
Treatment: Hearing aids and other communication devices.
3. Otosclerosis
Otosclerosis is a condition in which there is an abnormal bone growth in the middle ear that causes hearing loss.
Symptoms:
Treatment: Medications such as fluoride, calcium or vitamin D may help slow the hearing loss but these cannot cure the condition. Hearing aids can be used. Surgery to remove parts of the ear bones and replace it with prosthesis may help cure conductive hearing loss. Read more about 12 reasons you might be suffering from tinnitus or ringing in your ear.
With inputs from IANS
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