Sound therapy for tinnitus relief for adult cochlear-implant users
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Functional impact of tinnitus in post-lingual users of cochlear implants and short-term effects of sound therapy
IRAS ID
265044
Contact name
Manohar Bance
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Cambridge
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN15705814
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 2 days
Research summary
Background: Tinnitus is the perception of a sound in the absence of a sound source. 70% of adults who wear a cochlear implant have tinnitus, with approximately 13% describing tinnitus as a serious concern. It is not fully understood why or how tinnitus occurs, but recently it has been suggested that tinnitus may occur in the process that the brain uses to form perceptions about the world. The brain makes predictions about what is happening in the environment, and for hearing, the default prediction is silence. However, tinnitus can transform into the default prediction instead. There are certain sounds known to change the predictions of the brain (sounds with a certain temporal pattern) which may reduce tinnitus loudness, or even suppress tinnitus.
Research question: Can especially designed sounds ('sound textures') decrease the loudness or annoyance of tinnitus?
Design: We will explore the effect of these sounds in adult cochlear-implant users recruited from the Emmeline Centre for Hearing Implants (Cambridge). We will also determine whether there are any objective markers of tinnitus in the responses of the brain to sound or in the size of the eye pupil during a listening activity (which is a measure of listening effort). Objective markers of tinnitus would be helpful to understand why and how tinnitus occurs. We will compare brain responses to sound across two groups of adult cochlear-implant users, one with tinnitus and another one without tinnitus (Part A) and we will measure the effect of using special sounds (sound textures) on the reduction of tinnitus loudness/annoyance and on the brain responses (Part B). We will also explore the relationship between tinnitus and listening effort.
The study will be funded by the Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust (ACT).
REC name
East of England - Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/EE/0343
Date of REC Opinion
7 Jan 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion