Ringing in Ears Keeps Brain More at Attention, Less at Rest, Study Finds

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-08-ears-brain-attention-rest.html

I feel tired all the time, do you?

Interestingly, they mention this as an objective way to measure tinnitus.

 

No shit,
hahah just kidding,
the good thing, is that you can become aware of this and start to relax more

 

I just came across this article and it's really worried me. I had always assumed that T was generally harmless, but now it seems like my loud, intrusive T may actually be bringing about real changes in the way my brain operates.

Scary stuff, to be honest. I am finding hard to relax, and I get tired easily, so this change within the brain may be causing some of it.

This part is very interesting. There seems to be a direct correlation between the connectedness of the precuneus to the dorsal attention network and the loudness of the tinnitus.

 

Here's the full report

Connectivity of precuneus to the default mode and dorsal attention networks: A possible invariant marker of long-term tinnitus

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158217301808?via=ihub

 

so we can objectively see and measure tinnitus now? We should see more clinical trials and research being done then. Less risk now given the past way of measuring the efficacy of their drugs/treatment was a tinnitus questionnaire. lol

 

That is just an amazing find! See, new discoveries are being presented now at an unprecedented rate. I am telling you guys, the first treatments (not a cure) that will give us relief won't be far away.

 

I've quickly realized the impact of T on my cognitive abilities... it's unfortunate but it's part of what I consider a disability.

 

Such as?

 

I can't focus like I used to. I'm having difficulty solving problems that I used to be able to solve. It's taking me a much longer time to perform tasks, etc...

 

and we call this study ?
well thanx for telling us that tinnitus cause less at rest

 

Hey this looks pretty cool. I'll definitely look at it and see if it's in my area. Thanks.

 

Why scared ? It's been long known that tinnitus IS in the brain. Most recent research affirm that tinnitus starts ONLY if there is some kind of earing damage (even minimal, even normal age related) coupled with disregulation of the stress system (because of chronic stress for example, or anything else , even organic, that puts your person under extreme acute stress or chronic, even mild, stress). Even deafness alone is not enough.
Also, it is a credited theory that it's not just T that puts you under stress, but the inverse is also true, if you put yourself under excessive stress this can cause T or make it worse if you already have it (and I guess it's clear to anyone here). Don't get this study wrong, T is more linked to your attentional brain areas, that doesn't mean your whole brain is less at rest, but just that the area-source of your T is less connected to the rest-unconscious area and more connected with your conscious areas (and anything that enters your awarness does impair your performances, it could be T, or music, it's the same as long as you don't learn how NOT give it attention, as best as you can). So I suppose it's reasonable to tell that not only T(as a symptom) makes you more aware of your T itself, but also that before you were aware of your T your brain became progressively more attuned to the awareness areas and less to the default network (rest), this could be because of chronic stress, no rest-time, wrong use of your brain (too aware , too scared, too anxious, too much rumination, too sensible to critics, anything that kept you "always on alert"), the brain is a use it or lose it machine, train it to stay always on and that's what you will end up with. It is clear now how much T and mood-anxiety disorders overlap, so take care of yourself and your mental health and you will see improvements in your T (that's what I've seen myself, still T here but quiter every year that passes, started as severe for a couple of years, now mild since 2015).

 

Not always. You are thinking of one specific type of T.
I like to clarify this because people get desperate when they get T because "it's in the brain", and they stop their efforts in looking for a fix. They could have other causes that are fixable.

 

Same here im going in school right now back in the days i could easy understand math, now its pretty hard for me :/

 

Same here!
I'm sure there are some other factors involved, but I just can't think as quickly and clearly as before. And sometimes I'm just spacing out completely. It's a shame, because thinking is my primary way of getting though life and solving problems.

 

Lets see this as one step closer to a cure/reliefe

 

Argh, I meant to say through life and not tough life > : (

I'm sorry, what do you mean exactly?

 

I relate with many of your points in this post. But i haven't manage to find any studies. So let's assume that you go for i don't know how long to Tibet and meditate, get massage/acupuncture / anti-stress herbal treatment, stop worrying for anything. Will this reverse it? If so, i am willing to move there and become a monk.

 

I was talking about this article

 

Ah, I see. Yes, every bit of knowledge gained is a step towards a cure

 

Studies about what in particular ? Just tell me and I'll try to find and link you them if that can help.
Anyway... "Theoretically" I think it's possible but It's a bit more complicated than that. I'm sure enough that that would lower tinnitus and the emotional response to it (this is the real problem, if you haven't experienced it, trust me), so you can live normally (at least that's what most people does) and your quality of life could go back to normal even if T actually caused you anxiety/depression in the past. It's important to note that there are rare stories about people "reversing" tinnitus in a way or another (with medications, therapies or holistic approaches... about the latter I remember a guy that posted a story in "success stories" about managing stress and understanding his emotional life and doing massage behind his ears every night for over one year and T disappeared slowly) but... usually, "reversing" tinnitus is a tricky issue... it may also depend on the individual biology. The problem is that the brain, once "learns" something (which means it's functional connectivity changes), won't completely erase it. Think about it, if you learn to read, or to drive, will you ever forget it at will ? Mostly not, it would require an improbable amount of time and dedicated techniques. That's also the problem with emotional issues, the way to go is "integrate" (achieving balance again, maybe even with more resources/strenght than the average man), not "delete" which is unrealistic for most people, particularly if the problem has been chronic. That's where drugs or treatments come into play, they target mechanisms to try to "undo" something, or try to speed it's integration/modification. I.e. think about Mdma + psychotherapy for ptsd/anxiety/depression, last clinical trial toward fda approval has been terrific, on about 100 treatment resistant participants (average pstd suffering 18 years) more than 61% achived complete remission with just 2-3 doses/psychotherapeutic sessions on followup and remained diagnose free even after 1 year (more followup to come), that drug (unlike antidepressants which do just little more than masking symptoms) gave the brain a huge boost to integrate/modify in a psychotherapeutic setting what has been lernt, doing what usually takes years and for some (same as above, it's about individual biology) unfortunate cases it's impossible at all for their distressed brain to find the resources to "heal". About this point, there are also more selective experimental techniques about "erasing" selected functions/memories/connections, so I believe it would be possible in future, but to be honest, I think we won't see anything so selective for quite some year (about memories which are partly conscious and is easier to target) or decades (about unconscious functional connectivity).