Research › QEEG, Methods & Mechanisms
Temporo-insular enhancement of EEG low and high frequencies in patients with chronic tinnitus. QEEG study of chronic tinnitus patients
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Study at a glance
- Area
- QEEG, Methods & Mechanisms
- Study type
- Observational study
- Authors
- Moazami-Goudarzi M, Michels L, Weisz N, Jeanmonod D
- Journal
- BMC Neuroscience
- Year
- 2010
- Participants
- 23 (8 tinnitus, 15 controls)
- Population
- Adults
- Protocol
- Resting-state QEEG with LORETA source localization
Key findings
- Tinnitus patients had higher resting EEG power from 2 to 100 Hz than healthy controls
- Excess delta, theta, alpha and beta was localized mainly to left auditory cortex (Brodmann areas 41, 42 and 22)
- Temporo-parietal, posterior insula, anterior cingulate and parahippocampal areas were also involved
- Pattern fits a thalamocortical dysrhythmia account of tinnitus; only 8 patients were studied
A small QEEG study comparing the resting EEG of eight men with long-standing tinnitus against fifteen healthy men of similar age. The tinnitus group showed more EEG power across a wide frequency range, and LORETA source analysis traced the extra slow-wave and beta activity mainly to left-sided hearing areas, along with nearby temporal, insular, cingulate and parahippocampal regions. The authors read this as support for the idea that tinnitus involves a disturbed rhythm between the thalamus and cortex, though the sample is very small.