Tinnitus, the most common auditory disorder, affects about 40 million people in the United States alone. Although several approaches for the alleviation of tinnitus exist, there is as of yet no cure. The present article proposes a testable model for tinnitus that is grounded in recent findings from human imaging and focuses on brain areas in cortex, thalamus, and ventral striatum. Hopefully, this model will guide ongoing research on the circuit mechanisms of tinnitus and provide potential avenues for effective treatment.
Tuning Out the Noise: Limbic-Auditory Interactions in Tinnitus
Josef P. Rauschecker, Amber M. Leaver, Mark Mühlau
Neuron, Volume 66, Issue 6, 819-826, 24 June 2010