PSYCH 3A03 Lecture Notes - Sensorineural Hearing Loss, Tinnitus, Auditory Cortex

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCH 3A03
• Professor: Paul Faure

Document Summary

Tutorial 13: course wrap up and review session. Ringing or hissing of the ears in the absence of any external stimulus is tinnitus it is a behavioural symptom of auditory dysfunction. Originally thought to be cochlear in origin (spontaneous stimulation of the basilar membrane) and not correlated with hearing loss. Now believed to be correlated with hearing loss and known to be generated by the central auditory system (auditory cortex and limbic system) Tinnitus probably arise as a side effect of sensorineural hearing loss due to neural plasticity. Subjects with hearing loss report tinnitus sensations. Tinnitus seems to occur at frequencies that overlap the region of hearing loss. Mechanism of tinnitus generation may be spontaneous activity of the central auditory system due to absence of input from peripheral auditory system. Adjusting the pitch of the tone to the tinnitus sound: highest matching value correlate with region of hearing loss.