Changes in neuroimaging of cognitive centers after tinnitus intervention

[Jafa]

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 134610.htm

Hi, I'm still away on holiday, with limited internet access, but did anyone else see this? This is a report of a journal article behind a firewall, but thought it may be of interest to other members of the forum who also suffer from tinnitus. I've had bad tinnitus for over 10 yrs now, and identify with the issues with working memory especially. The idea that behavioral intervention for tinnitus might benefit my cognition is appealing. Any comments or insights welcome.

[circular]

Thanks Jafa! That would be me too! Thank you very much for this. It seems the software used is a new iteration of BrainHQ by Posit Science.

We plan to seek additional support for further research, which may someday allow us to bring to market a targeted program for people with tinnitus.

Some here use BrainHQ. I haven't yet gotten in a computerized cognitive training habit, but this sure gives me incentive. My tinnitus has just steadily gotten louder over the last 30 years. I guess while waiting for a tinnitus focused program I might was well jump in since even a non-tinnitus cognitive training program may help in some way.

[slacker]

I currently use BrainHQ 30 minutes 3 times a week, but not specifically for tinnitus, which I also have. The tinnitus study Jafa referenced allocated one hour a day, 5 days a week, for 8 weeks with computer brain training. Yikes! I wonder if the participants noticed any difference (clinically significant) or if the improvement was just statistically significant...and how long did the improvement last without continued brain training? (this info may have been in the article but I just skimmed the top part)

[NF52]

As someone who had a sudden worsening of tinnitus 10 years ago and was aghast when the ENT doc told me "I've had it for 40 years; get used to it", I've always hoped for a great treatment for this. So I followed the link to the abstract of the article, which phrases the gains in slightly more nuanced ways than the article.

http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaoto ... ct/2597598

I noticed first that in the abstract the tinnitus patients were defined loosely as having "bothersome tinnitus". That's not as specific as the actual rating of the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory that they used to document "behavioral" functioning:

0–16 Slight or no handicap (Grade 1) Only heard in a quiet environment.
18–36 Mild handicap (Grade 2) Easily masked by environmental sounds and easily forgotten with activities.
38–56 Moderate handicap (Grade 3) Noticed in presence of background noise, although daily activities can still be performed.
58–76 Severe handicap (Grade 4) Almost always heard, leads to disturbed sleep patterns and can interfere with daily activities.
78–100 Catastrophic handicap (Grade 5) Always heard, disturbs sleep patterns and causes difficulty with any activities.

But assuming that even people with a slight handicap could experience improvement, I wondered what is a clinically (not statistically) significant change on that inventory. And here's the recommendation from an article that asked just that question: "Tinnitus Handicap Inventory for Evaluating Treatment Effects: Which Changes Are Clinically Relevant?" http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10. ... 9811403882
Here's what they said: "a reduction in the THI score of 6 and 7 points, respectively, as the minimal clinically relevant change. This study provides a first orientation for sample size calculations and for planning the design of future studies. " [Emphasis added.]

So here are the authors' published results, which shows that BOTH tinnitus groups showed, on average, clinically significant, but not statistically different (from each other) reductions in their THI score.

There was a reduction in the THI score in the BFP-T group (median, 7; range, −16 to 64) and non–BFP-T group (median, 11; range, −6 to 26), but this reduction was not significantly different between the 2 groups (median difference, 0; 95% CI, −10 to 8). There was no difference in cognitive test scores and other behavioral measures. [emphasis added ]

url]http://www.premierhearing.com/library/TinnitusHandi.pdf[/url]

Since the "Non-BFP-T group had NO intervention (i.e. not another computer training game) it would appear that NON-Treatment patients got a BIGGER improving by just being part of this study. Although apparently some people in the treatment group reported subjectively MUCH worse symptoms (up to an increase of 64, noted in the range above). I'm no statistician or scientist, but this study seems to show only that 40 sessions of cognitive attention training using a computer improves activation of cognitive attention measured in imaging. Nothing on tinnitus.

[slacker]

Thanks NF52 for your summary and attention to detail. Since I consider my tinnitus "mild" and easy to ignore, I can save myself 5 hours a week!