Galazyuk Alexander, Hébert Sylvie
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Northeast Ohio Medical University , Rootstown, OH , USA.
International Laboratory for Research on Brain, Music, and Sound (BRAMS), Faculty of Medicine, School of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Université de Montréal , Montréal, QC , Canada.
Front Neurol. 2015 Apr 28;6:88. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2015.00088. eCollection 2015.
The progress in the field of tinnitus largely depends on the development of a reliable tinnitus animal model. Recently, a new method based on the acoustic startle reflex modification was introduced for tinnitus screening in laboratory animals. This method was enthusiastically adopted and now widely used by many scientists in the field due to its seeming simplicity and a number of advantages over the other methods of tinnitus assessment. Furthermore, this method opened an opportunity for tinnitus assessment in humans as well. Unfortunately, multiple modifications of data collection and interpretation implemented in different labs make comparisons across studies very difficult. In addition, recent animal and human studies have challenged the original "filling-in" interpretation of the paradigm. Here, we review the current literature to emphasize on the commonalities and differences in data collection and interpretation across laboratories that are using this method for tinnitus assessment. We also propose future research directions that could be taken in order to establish whether or not this method is warranted as an indicator of the presence of tinnitus.
耳鸣领域的进展很大程度上取决于可靠的耳鸣动物模型的建立。最近，一种基于听觉惊吓反射改变的新方法被引入用于实验动物的耳鸣筛查。由于其看似简单且相对于其他耳鸣评估方法具有诸多优势，该方法受到热烈欢迎并被该领域的许多科学家广泛使用。此外，这种方法也为人类耳鸣评估提供了机会。不幸的是，不同实验室对数据收集和解读的多种改进使得跨研究比较变得非常困难。此外，最近的动物和人类研究对该范式最初的“填补”解释提出了挑战。在此，我们回顾当前文献，以强调使用该方法进行耳鸣评估的不同实验室在数据收集和解读方面的共性与差异。我们还提出了未来的研究方向，以便确定该方法是否有资格作为耳鸣存在的指标。
