Fig 1.
TMNMT Neurophysiological Mechanism and Music Modification.
The individual tinnitus frequency is removed from the frequency spectrum of the music. This leads to increased lateral inhibition onto the neurons inside of the notch. Blue circles indicate excitatory pyramidal cells in auditory cortex. Red circles indicate inhibitory interneurons. Redistribution of energy from low frequencies to high frequencies is labeled as equalizing of the energy spectrum of the music.
Fig 2.
Flowchart of the Study Design.
Participants were recruited and their tinnitus frequency matched before trial start. Following recruitment and tinnitus pitch-matching, participants received the pre measurement (behavioral and neurophysiological). After three month of TMNMT with 1-, ½- or ¼-octave notch width this was followed by the post measurement (same measures as pre).
Table 1.
Comparison of baseline data.
Fig 3.
Mean change of THQ score in the three notch width groups. Error bars indicate 95%-CI. A negative change indicates an improvement of tinnitus distress.
Fig 4.
Grand averaged source waveforms for the N1m time window.
Pre CF = pre measurement control tone. Pre TF = pre measurement tinnitus tone. Post CF = post measurement control tone. Post TF = post measurement tinnitus tone. The onset of the stimulus is at 0 milliseconds and indicated by the dotted line. N1m source strength is lower for the TF, because the TF has a higher carrier frequency than the CF.
Fig 5.
Mean relative change of N1m (blue) and ASSR (red) source strength evoked by the tinnitus tone relative to baseline and a 500 Hz control tone. Error bars indicate 95%-CI.