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Article

Normal Hearing Young Adults with Mild Tinnitus: Reduced Inhibition as Measured Through Sensory Gating

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders; Central Sensory Processes Laboratory, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA
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Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Audiol. Res. 2018, 8(2), 214; https://doi.org/10.4081/audiores.2018.214
Submission received: 17 May 2018 / Revised: 17 May 2018 / Accepted: 25 June 2018 / Published: 2 October 2018

Abstract

Decreased central inhibition, possibly related to hearing loss, may contribute to chronic tinnitus. However, many individuals with normal hearing thresholds report tinnitus, suggesting that the percept in this population may arise from sources other than peripheral deafferentation. One measure of inhibition is sensory gating. Sensory gating involves the suppression of non-novel input, and is measured through cortical auditory evoked potential (CAEP) responses to paired stimuli. In typical gating function, amplitude suppression is observed in the second CAEP response when compared to the first CAEP response, illustrating inhibitory activity. Using this measure, we investigated central inhibitory processes in normal hearing young adults with and without mild tinnitus to determine whether inhibition may be a contributing factor to the tinnitus percept. Results showed that gating function was impaired in the tinnitus group, with the CAEP Pa component significantly correlated with tinnitus severity. Further exploratory analyses were conducted to evaluate variability in gating function within the tinnitus group, and findings showed that high CAEP amplitude suppressors demonstrated gating performance comparable to adults without tinnitus, while low amplitude suppressors exhibited atypical gating function.
Keywords: Tinnitus; Normal hearing; Sensory gating; Cortical auditory evoked potentials; Inhibition Tinnitus; Normal hearing; Sensory gating; Cortical auditory evoked potentials; Inhibition

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MDPI and ACS Style

Campbell, J.; Bean, C.; LaBrec, A. Normal Hearing Young Adults with Mild Tinnitus: Reduced Inhibition as Measured Through Sensory Gating. Audiol. Res. 2018, 8, 214. https://doi.org/10.4081/audiores.2018.214

AMA Style

Campbell J, Bean C, LaBrec A. Normal Hearing Young Adults with Mild Tinnitus: Reduced Inhibition as Measured Through Sensory Gating. Audiology Research. 2018; 8(2):214. https://doi.org/10.4081/audiores.2018.214

Chicago/Turabian Style

Campbell, Julia, Connor Bean, and Alison LaBrec. 2018. "Normal Hearing Young Adults with Mild Tinnitus: Reduced Inhibition as Measured Through Sensory Gating" Audiology Research 8, no. 2: 214. https://doi.org/10.4081/audiores.2018.214

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