Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis, University of Münster, P.C. D-48149, Münster, Germany.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Jena University Hospital, Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena, P.C. D-07747 Jena, Germany.
Neuroimage Clin. 2023;38:103379. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2023.103379. Epub 2023 Mar 14.
Tinnitus pathophysiology has been associated with an atypical cortical network that involves functional changes in auditory and non-auditory areas. Numerous resting-state studies have replicated a tinnitus brain network to be significantly different from healthy-controls. Yet it is still unknown whether the cortical reorganization is attributed to the tinnitus frequency specifically or if it is frequency-irrelevant. Employing magnetoencephalography (MEG), the current study aimed to identify frequency-specific activity patterns by using an individual tinnitus tone (TT) and a 500 Hz-control tone (CT) as auditory stimuli, across 54 tinnitus patients. MEG data were analyzed in a data-driven approach employing a whole-head model in source space and in sources' functional connectivity. Compared to the CT, the event related source space analysis revealed a statistically significant response to TT involving fronto-parietal regions. The CT mainly involved typical auditory activation-related regions. A comparison of the cortical responses to a healthy control group that underwent the same paradigm rejected the alternative interpretation that the frequency-specific activation differences were due to the higher frequency of the TT. Overall, the results suggest frequency-specificity of tinnitus-related cortical patterns. In line with previous studies, we demonstrated a tinnitus-frequency specific network comprising left fronto-temporal, fronto-parietal and tempo-parietal junctions.
耳鸣的病理生理学与一种非典型的皮质网络有关，该网络涉及听觉和非听觉区域的功能变化。许多静息态研究已经复制了耳鸣的大脑网络，发现其与健康对照组有显著差异。然而，目前尚不清楚皮质重组是归因于耳鸣频率还是与频率无关。本研究采用脑磁图（MEG），旨在通过使用个体耳鸣音调（TT）和 500 Hz 对照音调（CT）作为听觉刺激，在 54 名耳鸣患者中识别频率特异性活动模式。在源空间和源功能连接中采用全头模型的数据分析方法，对 MEG 数据进行了分析。与 CT 相比，事件相关源空间分析显示，TT 引起的额顶叶区域的反应具有统计学意义。CT 主要涉及典型的听觉激活相关区域。与进行相同范式的健康对照组的皮质反应比较，排除了替代解释，即频率特异性激活差异是由于 TT 的频率较高。总的来说，这些结果表明耳鸣相关皮质模式具有频率特异性。与之前的研究一致，我们证明了一个包含左额颞、额顶和颞顶连接的耳鸣频率特异性网络。
