Tinnitus: a vision for research

Abstract

Tinnitus is classically defined as the perception of sound that has no external source. It was assumed to be primarily a disorder of the ear and has been linked to mechanisms equivalent to phantom pain; a pain sensation located to a no longer existing part of the body. Phantom pain is closely correlated with a cortical plasticity and with a reorganization of the somatosensory cortex. The end result is an alteration of neuronal activity, leading to tinnitus. Over the past decade, however, research on brain mechanisms of tinnitus has progressed rapidly, and insights have emerged into the possible neurological origins of tinnitus without any auditory dysfunction. Identification of the neuroscience of tinnitus could provide clear targets for the pharmacological control of the handicap condition.