Neff Patrick, Hemsley Colette, Kraxner Fabian, Weidt Steffi, Kleinjung Tobias, Meyer Martin
Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Regensburg, Germany; University Research Priority Program 'Dynamics of Healthy Aging', University of Zurich, Switzerland; Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology (ICST), University of Arts Zurich, Switzerland.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital of Zurich, Switzerland.
Neurosci Lett. 2019 Feb 16;694:176-183. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2018.11.008. Epub 2018 Nov 28.
Chronic subjective tinnitus is an audible sound that lacks an external source. A notable number of neuroscientific studies have been conducted applying magnetoencephalography and electroencephalography (MEEG) in resting state paradigms to elucidate neural correlates of tinnitus. In these studies, recordings were usually performed without particular instructions to the participant. Thus, it remains unclear whether resulting MEEG measures may have been affected by attention on the actual tinnitus percept. In order to investigate this potential source of variance in tinnitus MEEG resting state results, we investigated the difference between non-instructed resting state (RS) and active listening to tinnitus (AL) using questionnaires as well as EEG power analysis (n = 45). Questionnaire scores for the two conditions resulted in significant increases in tinnitus distress and presence during AL. Beyond that, no differences in EEG band power were found between the conditions both on the sensor and source levels. Results point to an expected increased tinnitus presence and distress in the AL condition on the behavioral level. These behavioral changes are not reflected in changes in EEG oscillatory power, which is especially surprising when looking at the alpha band related to general external and internal attentional processes. Furthermore, no changes in other frequency bands (delta, theta, beta, gamma) attributed to aspects of tinnitus distress, loudness, and maintenance were observed. In conclusion, the absence of EEG power changes between conditions may be in support of a chronic and invariant state of altered MEEG signatures in tinnitus. Further studies are needed to better elucidate MEEG resting state paradigms in tinnitus.
慢性主观性耳鸣是一种没有外部声源的可听声音。已经进行了大量神经科学研究，在静息状态范式中应用脑磁图和脑电图（MEEG）来阐明耳鸣的神经关联。在这些研究中，记录通常是在没有对参与者进行特殊指示的情况下进行的。因此，尚不清楚由此产生的MEEG测量结果是否可能受到对实际耳鸣感知的注意力的影响。为了研究耳鸣MEEG静息状态结果中这种潜在的变异来源，我们使用问卷以及脑电图功率分析（n = 45）研究了无指示静息状态（RS）和主动聆听耳鸣（AL）之间的差异。两种条件下的问卷得分导致在AL期间耳鸣困扰和耳鸣出现次数显著增加。除此之外，在传感器和源水平上，两种条件之间未发现脑电图频段功率存在差异。结果表明，在行为水平上，AL条件下耳鸣出现次数和困扰预期会增加。这些行为变化并未反映在脑电图振荡功率的变化中，当观察与一般外部和内部注意力过程相关的阿尔法频段时，这一点尤其令人惊讶。此外，未观察到归因于耳鸣困扰、响度和持续存在等方面的其他频段（δ、θ、β、γ）的变化。总之，不同条件之间脑电图功率没有变化，这可能支持耳鸣中MEEG特征改变的慢性和不变状态。需要进一步研究以更好地阐明耳鸣中的MEEG静息状态范式。
