Araneda Rodrigo, De Volder Anne G, Deggouj Naïma, Philippot Pierre, Heeren Alexandre, Lacroix Emilie, Decat Monique, Rombaux Philippe, Renier Laurent
Institute of Neuroscience (IoNS), Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium.
Institute of Neuroscience (IoNS), Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology & Head and Neck Surgery, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium.
Restor Neurol Neurosci. 2015;33(1):67-80. doi: 10.3233/RNN-140433.
Tinnitus is the perception of a sound in the absence of external stimulus. Currently, the pathophysiology of tinnitus is not fully understood, but recent studies indicate that alterations in the brain involve non-auditory areas, including the prefrontal cortex. Here, we hypothesize that these brain alterations affect top-down cognitive control mechanisms that play a role in the regulation of sensations, emotions and attention resources.
The efficiency of the executive control as well as simple reaction speed and processing speed were evaluated in tinnitus participants (TP) and matched control subjects (CS) in both the auditory and the visual modalities using a spatial Stroop paradigm.
TP were slower and less accurate than CS during both the auditory and the visual spatial Stroop tasks, while simple reaction speed and stimulus processing speed were affected in TP in the auditory modality only.
Tinnitus is associated both with modality-specific deficits along the auditory processing system and an impairment of cognitive control mechanisms that are involved both in vision and audition (i.e. that are supra-modal). We postulate that this deficit in the top-down cognitive control is a key-factor in the development and maintenance of tinnitus and may also explain some of the cognitive difficulties reported by tinnitus sufferers.
耳鸣是在没有外部刺激时对声音的感知。目前，耳鸣的病理生理学尚未完全了解，但最近的研究表明，大脑的改变涉及包括前额叶皮质在内的非听觉区域。在此，我们假设这些大脑改变会影响自上而下的认知控制机制，这些机制在感觉、情绪和注意力资源的调节中发挥作用。
使用空间斯特鲁普范式，在耳鸣参与者（TP）和匹配的对照受试者（CS）中，在听觉和视觉模式下评估执行控制效率以及简单反应速度和处理速度。
在听觉和视觉空间斯特鲁普任务中，TP比CS更慢且准确性更低，而简单反应速度和刺激处理速度仅在听觉模式下的TP中受到影响。
耳鸣既与听觉处理系统中特定模式的缺陷有关，也与涉及视觉和听觉（即超模式）的认知控制机制受损有关。我们推测，这种自上而下的认知控制缺陷是耳鸣发生和维持的关键因素，也可能解释耳鸣患者报告的一些认知困难。
