Dataset Information

Effects of individual alpha rTMS applied to the auditory cortex and its implications for the treatment of chronic tinnitus.

ABSTRACT: An increasing amount of studies apply repetetive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to treat chronic tinnitus, yet the neurophysiological impacts have remained largely obscure. Several studies show that endogenous brain rhythms may be enhanced via diverse brain stimulation techniques applying rhythmic stimulation. Here, we investigated in normal hearing participants whether application of rTMS (left auditory cortex) with an individualized alpha frequency was capable of increasing alpha activity in stimulated auditory regions in a sustained manner. Behavioral intensity discrimination performance worsened for the rTMS group as compared to Sham. Electroencephalography (EEG) data, however, clearly show that this functional inhibition is not accompanied by increases of auditory cortical alpha. Even though more pronounced power reductions for the rTMS group were observed at slower frequencies (delta to theta range) at stimulated and other sites of the left hemisphere, they were unrelated to behavioral changes. Our results also strongly suggest that the amount of power modulations at these slower frequencies is strongly dependent on pre-rTMS power, thus supporting current state-dependency notions. Strong relationships to behavioral changes were in particular observed for anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) beta power and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) beta connectivity. Moreover, these beta band measures were strongly inter-related and when viewed together specifically sensitive to behavioral changes in the rTMS group. We conclude that currently alpha frequency rTMS is not a promising avenue for the treatment of chronic tinnitus and that beneficial effects could be mediated via nonauditory systems. Our study argues for the value of combined EEG-TMS studies when investigating the impacts of rTMS.

SUBMITTER: Weisz N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6869412 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Effects of individual alpha rTMS applied to the auditory cortex and its implications for the treatment of chronic tinnitus.

Weisz Nathan N Lüchinger Claudia C Thut Gregor G Müller Nadia N

Human brain mapping 20120924 1

An increasing amount of studies apply repetetive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to treat chronic tinnitus, yet the neurophysiological impacts have remained largely obscure. Several studies show that endogenous brain rhythms may be enhanced via diverse brain stimulation techniques applying rhythmic stimulation. Here, we investigated in normal hearing participants whether application of rTMS (left auditory cortex) with an individualized alpha frequency was capable of increasing alpha act ...[more]

PMID: 23008160

Similar Datasets

Project description:Preliminary studies have demonstrated the therapeutic potential of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for chronic tinnitus. However, the findings are controversial and most of the studies investigated effects of a single session of tDCS and short after-effects, ranging from hours to days. To our knowledge, there is no published study investigating the effects of a chronic protocol of bilateral tDCS over auditory cortex (AC) with one month follow-up in a double blinded randomized clinical trial. This dataset presents the results of a double-blinded placebo controlled trial investigating the effects of chronic protocol (10 sessions) of tDCS over AC with 1 month follow-up. The data of the two groups, real tDCS (n=25) and sham tDCS (n=15), are reported. The dataset includes three main data groups: patient- and tinnitus-specific data, data of the primary and secondary outcomes, and data on the adverse effects of and tolerability to tDCS. The first group includes demographic information, audiometric assessments, and tinnitus-specific characteristics. The second group includes tinnitus handicap inventory (THI) scores, tinnitus loudness, and tinnitus related distress based on 0-10 numerical visual analogue scale (VAS) scores. The values of the primary and secondary outcomes for pre-intervention and at different time points following interventions are presented. THI scores pre-intervention and immediately post-intervention and at 1 month follow-up; the scores of tinnitus loudness and distress scores for pre-intervention, and immediately, 1 hour, 1 week, and at 1 month after the last stimulation session are presented. Moreover, the adverse effects of and tolerability to the tDCS were assessed using a customized questionnaire after the last tDCS session. This dataset can be used alone or in combination with other datasets using advanced statistical analyses and modeling to investigate the treatment efficacy of tDCS in chronic intractable tinnitus.

Project description:ObjectivesNoninvasive brain stimulation continues to grow as an effective, low-risk way of improving the symptoms of brain conditions. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is particularly well-tolerated, with benefits including low cost and potential portability. Nevertheless, continued study of perceptual and cognitive side effects is warranted, given the complexity of functional brain organization. This paper describes the results of a brief battery of tablet-based tasks used in a recent pilot study of auditory-cortex tDCS in people with chronic tinnitus.MethodsVolunteers with chronic tinnitus (n=20) completed two hearing tasks (pure-tone thresholds, Words In Noise) and two cognitive tasks (Flanker, Dimension Change Card Sort) from the NIH Toolbox. Volunteers were randomized to active or sham 4×1 Ag/AgCl tDCS of auditory cortex, and tasks were completed immediately before and after the first tDCS session, and after the fifth/final tDCS session. Statistics included linear mixed-effects models for change in task performance over time.ResultsBefore tDCS, performance on both auditory tasks was highly correlated with clinical audiometry, supporting the external validity of these measures (r2>0.89 for all). Although overall auditory task performance did not change after active or sham tDCS, detection of right-ear Words in Noise stimuli modestly improved after five active tDCS sessions (t(34)=-2.07, p=0.05). On cognitive tasks, reaction times were quicker after sham tDCS, reflecting expected practice effects (e.g., t(88)=3.22, p=0.002 after 5 sessions on Flanker task). However, reaction times did not improve over repeated sessions in the active group, suggesting that tDCS interfered with learning these practice effects.ConclusionsRepeated sessions of auditory-cortex tDCS does not appear to adversely affect hearing or cognition, but may modestly improve hearing in noisy environments and interfere with some types of motor learning. Low-burden cognitive/perceptual test batteries could be a powerful way to identify adverse effects and new treatment targets in brain stimulation research.

Dataset Information

Effects of individual alpha rTMS applied to the auditory cortex and its implications for the treatment of chronic tinnitus.

Publications

Effects of individual alpha rTMS applied to the auditory cortex and its implications for the treatment of chronic tinnitus.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets