Cortical Thickness Alterations in Patients With Tinnitus Before and After Sound Therapy: A Surface-Based Morphometry Study

Abstract

This study aimed to explore brain surface-based morphometry cortical thickness changes in patients with idiopathic tinnitus before and after 24 weeks of sound therapy. In this prospective observational study, we recruited 33 tinnitus patients who had undergone 24 weeks of sound therapy and 26 matched healthy controls. For the two groups of subjects, a 3D-BRAVO pulse sequence was acquired both at baseline and at the 24th week. Structural image data preprocessing was performed using the DPABISurf toolbox. The Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) score was assessed to determine the severity of tinnitus before and after treatment. Two-way mixed-model analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson’s correlation analysis were used in the statistical analysis. Student–Newman–Keuls (SNK) tests were used in the post hoc analysis. Significantly lower cortical thickness was found in the left somatosensory and motor cortex (SMC), left posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), and right orbital and polar frontal cortex (OPFC) of the participants in the tinnitus group at baseline than in the participants in the HC group at baseline and after 24 weeks; in the tinnitus group, significantly higher cortical thickness was found after the 24 weeks sound therapy in comparison to the baseline in the left SMC, bilateral superior parietal cortex (SPC), left inferior parietal cortex (IPC), left PCC, and right OPFC. In the HC group, no statistically significant difference in cortical thickness was found after the 24 weeks treatment in comparison to the baseline in the bilateral SMC, bilateral SPC, left IPC, left PCC, or right OPFC. The changes in cortical thickness before and after sound therapy can provide certain reference values for clinical tinnitus treatment. These brain regions could serve as potential targets for neuroimaging.

Therapy effect of cochleural alternating acoustic beam therapy versus traditional sound therapy for managing chronic idiopathic tinnitus patients

“…Feng et al 32 observed enhanced functional connectivity between the PreCG and cerebellum in tinnitus patients, leading to significant functional changes. Additionally, Wei et al 33 found that sound therapy can induce morphological changes in cortical thickness within the PreCG. Consistent with previous studies, we observed functional changes in the PreCG after CAABT.…”

Tinnitus Perception in Light of a Parietal Operculo–Insular Involvement: A Review

“…The authors found a pattern of increased and reduced glycolitic metabolism in many regions throughout the cortex. The neural correlates of sound therapy were evaluated by a single group, by measuring variation of grey matter thickness [87], of white matter volume [88] and amplitude of the low frequency fluctuations [89]. These studies found different modifications, however without showing a clear pattern of coherent results.…”

Periodontitis is associated with altered brain structure and function in normal cognition middle‐aged and elderly individuals

“…Multimodal MRI that combines structure and function imaging together can give more comprehensive information about the brain condition. Voxel‐based morphometry (VBM) and surface‐based morphometry (SBM) are two commonly used methods to measure brain morphological changes from structural MRI data 17–19 . While VBM analyses yield primarily brain volume measures, SBM can yield multiple characteristics of cortical structure, including thickness, volume, and surface area.…”