Giliberto Giovanna, Palacio Maria Itati, Cartocci Giulia, Fernandez-Villalba Emiliano, Rossi Dario, Minguez Nieves, Botia Maria, Cubillana Jose Domingo, Ceron Jose Joaquin, Babiloni Fabio, Herrero Maria Trinidad
Clinical and Experimental Neuroscience (NiCE), Biomedical Research Institute of Murcia (IMIB-Pascual Parrilla), Institute for Aging Research, UniWell, Campus Mare Nostrum, School of Medicine, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Rome "Sapienza", Rome, Italy.
Front Neurosci. 2025 Jul 7;19:1591622. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1591622. eCollection 2025.
This study investigated the impact of chronic tinnitus on auditory perception, text comprehension, and physiological stress responses, with a focus on sex-related differences. The main objectives were to assess the influence of sex and stress on tinnitus severity, examine neurophysiological indicators of listening effort, and evaluate the effects of background noise on perceived difficulty and listening pleasantness.
Forty-seven participants (24 with tinnitus, 23 controls) performed a listening task involving audiobook excerpts presented at different signal-to-noise ratios. Subjective ratings, comprehension scores, and physiological data were collected, including salivary alpha-amylase, electrodermal activity, heart rate, and EEG-based measures of listening pleasantness.
Control participants outperformed tinnitus participants during the initial quiet condition ( = 0.020), with male controls scoring significantly higher than males with tinnitus ( = 0.008). Tinnitus participants rated listening as less pleasant in both quiet ( = 0.036) and high-noise conditions ( = 0.012). Female participants reported greater difficulty under moderate noise ( = 0.030), while EEG data showed higher enjoyment in males ( = 0.005). Salivary amylase increased post-task ( = 0.016), electrodermal activity differed between the initial and final quiet phases ( < 0.001), and heart rate varied according to noise levels ( = 0.008). Negative correlation emerged between subjective and EEG-based pleasantness in the quiet condition.
These findings suggest that tinnitus imposes a measurable cognitive and emotional burden, influenced by both sex and stress responses. They emphasize the need for multimodal, personalized, and gender-sensitive approaches in the assessment and management of tinnitus.
本研究调查了慢性耳鸣对听觉感知、文本理解和生理应激反应的影响，重点关注性别差异。主要目标是评估性别和应激对耳鸣严重程度的影响，检查听力努力的神经生理指标，并评估背景噪声对感知难度和听力愉悦度的影响。
47名参与者（24名耳鸣患者，23名对照者）进行了一项听力任务，该任务涉及以不同信噪比呈现的有声读物摘录。收集了主观评分、理解分数和生理数据，包括唾液α-淀粉酶、皮肤电活动、心率以及基于脑电图的听力愉悦度测量。
在初始安静条件下，对照参与者的表现优于耳鸣参与者（ = 0.020），男性对照者的得分显著高于耳鸣男性（ = 0.008）。耳鸣参与者在安静（ = 0.036）和高噪声条件下（ = 0.012）都认为听力不太愉悦。女性参与者在中等噪声下报告有更大困难（ = 0.030），而脑电图数据显示男性的愉悦度更高（ = 0.005）。任务后唾液淀粉酶增加（ = 0.016），皮肤电活动在初始和最终安静阶段有所不同（ < 0.001），心率根据噪声水平而变化（ = 0.008）。在安静条件下，主观愉悦度与基于脑电图的愉悦度之间出现负相关。
这些发现表明，耳鸣会带来可测量的认知和情感负担，受到性别和应激反应的影响。它们强调在耳鸣的评估和管理中需要采用多模式、个性化和对性别敏感的方法。
