Auditory training – a potential treatment for tinnitus?
20 May 2010
At the National Biomedical Research Unit in Hearing, researchers believe that the most effective treatment for tinnitus will be one that involves a complex intervention strategy that addresses more than one 'symptom', tailors the intervention to individual needs, and uses a range of different outcome measures for evaluating benefit.
Nearly five million people in the UK live with tinnitus, a daily cacophony of ringing, hissing or other noise in their ears. Around half of those affected find that tinnitus has a serious impact on their lives, preventing them getting a decent night's sleep or holding a conversation for example. About a quarter of a million people are totally unable to work or lead a normal life because of their tinnitus. Current NHS management strategies range from hearing-aids to cognitive-behaviour therapy. While each treatment has its own theoretical underpinnings, there is no strong scientific evidence base for treatment effectiveness.
At the National Biomedical Research Unit in Hearing (NBRUH), tinnitus is considered as a health problem that involves audiological, psychological and individual personality factors. Researchers, led by Professor Deb Hall, believe that the most effective treatment for tinnitus will be one that involves a complex intervention strategy that addresses more than one 'symptom', tailors the intervention to individual needs, and uses a range of different outcome measures for evaluating benefit. A key aspect of their research focuses on developing novel interventions, using the best available evidence and appropriate theory, then testing those interventions using a carefully phased approach that ranges from pilot studies to exploratory evaluations.
One such project, profiled recently on the BBC One show, develops new knowledge about the efficacy of a treatment approach that is based on auditory training delivered using a ‘home-based’ computer game. The research explores whether auditory training can have positive effects on tinnitus management and if so whether it directly changes what someone's tinnitus sounds like or whether it perhaps simply reduces the distress caused by tinnitus. Professor Hall says that “we know that auditory training can improve people's performance on a range of different listening tasks and so we are hopeful that this will also bring benefits to people with tinnitus”.
Evidence from previous studies suggests that listening to specific sounds might be successful in re-normalising the pattern of neuron responses in the brain thus having an effect on the tinnitus experienced. A series of small-scale randomized controlled studies at NBRUH are systematically assessing the contribution of different factors to auditory training, such as the best type of sound to present and the most effective amount of training. These findings will help to develop tinnitus intervention strategies in which the patient actively participates in the therapeutic process.
