Comparisons of auditory brainstem response and sound level tolerance in tinnitus ears and non-tinnitus ears in unilateral tinnitus patients with normal audiograms.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Recently, "hidden hearing loss" with cochlear synaptopathy has been suggested as a potential pathophysiology of tinnitus in individuals with a normal hearing threshold. Several studies have demonstrated that subjects with tinnitus and normal audiograms show significantly reduced auditory brainstem response (ABR) wave I amplitudes compared with control subjects, but normal wave V amplitudes, suggesting increased central auditory gain. We aimed to reconfirm the "hidden hearing loss" theory through a within-subject comparison of wave I and wave V amplitudes and uncomfortable loudness level (UCL), which might be decreased with increased central gain, in tinnitus ears (TEs) and non-tinnitus ears (NTEs).

Subjects and methods

Human subjects included 43 unilateral tinnitus

SUBMITTER: Shim HJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5734686 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature