Skip Navigation


Cerebral Cortex Advance Access originally published online on November 9, 2005
Cerebral Cortex 2006 16(9):1283-1288; doi:10.1093/cercor/bhj070
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
16/9/1283    most recent
bhj070v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (12)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Mühlau, M.
Right arrow Articles by Sander, D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Mühlau, M.
Right arrow Articles by Sander, D.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Structural Brain Changes in Tinnitus

M. Mühlau1, J. P. Rauschecker2, E. Oestreicher3, C. Gaser4, M. Röttinger5, A. M. Wohlschläger1,5,6, F. Simon1, T. Etgen1, B. Conrad1 and D. Sander1

1 Department of Neurology, Technische Universität München, D-81675 München, Germany, 2 Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20007, USA, 3 Department of Otolaryngology, Technische Universität D-81675 München, Germany, 4 Department of Psychiatry, University of Jena, Jena D-07740, Germany, 5 Department of Radiology, Technische Universität München, D-81675 München, Germany and 6 Nuklearmedizinische Klinik und Poliklinik, Technische Universität München, München D-81675, Germany

Address correspondence to Mark Mühlau, MD, Department of Neurology, Technische Universität München, Möhlstrasse 28, D-81675 München, Germany. Email: m.muehlau{at}neuro.med.tu-muenchen.de.

Tinnitus is a common but poorly understood disorder characterized by ringing or buzzing in the ear. Central mechanisms must play a crucial role in generating this auditory phantom sensation as it persists in most cases after severing the auditory nerve. One hypothesis states that tinnitus is caused by a reorganization of tonotopic maps in the auditory cortex, which leads to an overrepresentation of tinnitus frequencies. Moreover, the participation of the limbic system in generating tinnitus has been postulated. Here we aimed at identifying brain areas that display structural change in tinnitus. We compared tinnitus sufferers with healthy controls by using high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging and voxel-based morphometry. Within the auditory pathways, we found gray-matter increases only at the thalamic level. Outside the auditory system, gray-matter decrease was found in the subcallosal region including the nucleus accumbens. Our results suggest that reciprocal involvement of both sensory and emotional areas are essential in the generation of tinnitus.

Key Words: medial geniculate nucleus • nucleus accumbens • subcallosal area • tinnitus • voxel-based morphometry


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 AJAHome page
J. J. Eggermont
Role of Auditory Cortex in Noise- and Drug-Induced Tinnitus
Am J Audiol, December 1, 2008; 17(2): S162 - S169.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 AJAHome page
R. Tyler, C. Coelho, P. Tao, H. Ji, W. Noble, A. Gehringer, and S. Gogel
Identifying Tinnitus Subgroups With Cluster Analysis
Am J Audiol, December 1, 2008; 17(2): S176 - S184.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 TRENDS AMPLIFHome page
P. J. Hanley and P. B. Davis
Treatment of Tinnitus With a Customized, Dynamic Acoustic Neural Stimulus: Underlying Principles and Clinical Efficacy
Trends in Amplification, September 1, 2008; 12(3): 210 - 222.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Neurosci.Home page
F. Ullen, L. Forsman, O. Blom, A. Karabanov, and G. Madison
Intelligence and Variability in a Simple Timing Task Share Neural Substrates in the Prefrontal White Matter
J. Neurosci., April 16, 2008; 28(16): 4238 - 4243.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Neurol. Neurosurg. PsychiatryHome page
S. Rossi, A. De Capua, M. Ulivelli, S. Bartalini, V. Falzarano, G. Filippone, and S. Passero
Effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on chronic tinnitus: a randomised, crossover, double blind, placebo controlled study
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, August 1, 2007; 78(8): 857 - 863.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.