Inhibitory neurotransmission in animal models of tinnitus: maladaptive plasticity.

ABSTRACT: Tinnitus is a phantom auditory sensation experienced by up to 14% of the United States population with a smaller percentage experiencing decreased quality of life. A compelling hypothesis is that tinnitus results from a maladaptive plastic net down-regulation of inhibitory amino acid neurotransmission in the central auditory pathway. This loss of inhibition may be a compensatory response to loss of afferent input such as that caused by acoustic insult and/or age-related hearing loss, the most common causes of tinnitus in people. Compensatory plastic changes may result in pathologic neural activity that underpins tinnitus. The neural correlates include increased spontaneous spiking, increased bursting and decreased variance of inter-spike intervals. This review will examine evidence for chr

SUBMITTER: Wang H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3172385 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature