Current location:World Wander news portal > opinions
The headphones that could ease tinnitus with a radical new treatment
World Wander news portal2024-04-30 14:25:22【opinions】2People have gathered around
IntroductionHeadphones that swap sounds from one ear to the other could be a radical new treatment for tinnitus
Headphones that swap sounds from one ear to the other could be a radical new treatment for tinnitus — the ringing noise in the ears that affects around five million people in the UK.
When a noise comes from the wearer's right-hand side, it is picked up by a microphone in the headphones and re-routed to the left ear. The opposite happens with sounds emanating from the left.
Scientists think jumbling the direction of sound, with the eyes telling the brain it's coming from one place but the ears telling it the opposite, helps to 'rewire' the auditory nerve (which connects the ear to the brain). And this 'turns down' the tinnitus.
The idea for headphones treatment came from mirror therapy, which is used for phantom limb pain (Stock Image)
Results published in the Journal of the American Academy of Audiology in 2022 showed 18 volunteers experienced significant improvements in their symptoms (stock photo)
The results of a small trial suggest that using the headsets for two hours a day for three weeks significantly reduces tinnitus. Many people suffer temporary tinnitus, but for around one in 100, the ringing is long term and is often combined with hearing loss.
READ MORE: Have scientists cracked cancer mystery in young people? Experts think they've pinpointed bodily changes that are driving skyrocketing cancer rates in under 50sAdvertisement
When the ears are exposed to loud noise or infections, tiny hair cells that transmit sounds to the brain become stressed and emit excess quantities of a chemical called glutamate. This 'glutamate storm' over-stimulates — and eventually kills — nerve cells in the inner ear, which send sound impulses to the auditory cortex, the part of the brain that processes noise.
T his leaves cells in the auditory cortex switched on so they constantly relay sound to the brain, causing people to 'hear' ringing, for instance. In some, the cells remain in this 'switched on' state.
By this point, it is more difficult to treat. There are no drugs for it, and treatments include talking therapy, which helps patients live with the condition, or sound therapy, where background noise is used to distract them.
The idea for headphones treatment came from mirror therapy, which is used for phantom limb pain — where amputees still feel pain from the removed limb. By 'hiding' their affected limb behind a mirror which reflects the healthy limb, and focusing on this reflection, the brain is 'tricked' into thinking both limbs are intact. Studies suggest this leads to rewiring in the brain that reduces the perception of pain.
Scientists at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Massachusetts in the U.S., who developed the prototype headphones, think they work in a similar way, 'rewiring' connections between nerve cells so they no longer register tinnitus as a real external sound.
Results published in the Journal of the American Academy of Audiology in 2022 showed 18 volunteers experienced significant improvements in their symptoms. Now a trial is under way with 50 patients who will wear the headphones for three hours a day for three weeks, or a regular pair that play noise into the ear closest to the noise source. The results are expected later this year.
Commenting on the treatment, Dr Will Sedley, a lecturer in neurology at Newcastle University, said: 'It's a neat idea, but we need the results of the trial before we can say it works. In the meantime, the one thing we know does work well for many people is talking therapy.'
Address of this article:http://coralseaislands.whetstonetavern.com/content-42e199952.html
Very good!(92)
Related articles
- Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti apologizes for forgetting German on his Bayern Munich return
- China registers 415 million motor vehicles, 500 million drivers
- 8th China (Shanghai) International Technology Fair kicks off
- China's Mars rover accomplishes planned exploration tasks
- Patriots' Christian Barmore agrees to 4
- EU set to fine Apple $540 mln for unfair play
- China gathers pace in integrating new technologies into transportation sector
- China to lead way in clean energy shipbuilding
- Analysis: The NHL playoffs are off to an odd start, from the net out
- Xi Focus: Xi Says Confidence 'More Valuable Than Gold' in March Toward Rejuvenation
Popular articles
Recommended
Zebras get loose near highway exit, gallop into Washington community before most are corralled
Electric tricycles now welcomed in overseas market
Mars probe Tianwen 1 leaves Chinese mark on red planet
Airlines see significant recovery in bookings
Chinese FM meets with chairman of MSC Foundation
Northerners head south for warmth
Handy with fashion tech
World Conference on Integrated Circuits 2022 kicks off in China's Hefei
Links
- China's home
- Xiplomacy: A Letter from Xi — A Fond Memory of China
- China's PLA aerobatic team to perform at world defense show in Saudi Arabia
- GLOBALink
- Xi Calls for Pushing China
- More Chinese students experience unwarranted interrogation, harassment, deportation at U.S. border
- Four China's C919 aircraft to serve during Spring Festival travel rush
- Village in China's Henan transformed by cultural industries
- China's non
- Qixi Festival marked in Xi'an, NW China