Unlearning tinnitus-related cerebral synchrony with acoustic coordinated reset stimulation: Theoretical concept and modelling

Abstract

Tinnitus is a deafferentation-induced phantom phenomenon characterized by abnormal cerebral synchrony and connectivity. Computationally, we show that desynchronizing acoustic coordinated reset (CR) stimulation can effectively counteract both up-regulated synchrony and connectivity. CR stimulation has initially been developed for the application to electrical deep brain stimulation. We here adapt this approach to non-invasive, acoustic CR stimulation. For this, we use the tonotopic organization of the central auditory system and replace electrical stimulation bursts applied to different brain sites by acoustically delivered tones of different pitch. Based on our simulations, we propose non-invasive acoustic CR stimulation as a possible novel therapy for tinnitus. © 2012 The Author(s).