Frontal Cortex TMS for Tinnitus

The effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in an animal model of tinnitus

“…These human studies show mixed efficacy and varying duration of suppression of the tinnitus symptoms but comparison between them is complicated by the fact that a variety of parameters are applied in the different studies, such as using either high or low frequency stimulation28, applied either over the auditory or prefrontal cortex, one-sided or bilaterally2229. One important difference between human studies and our animal model is that the animals were treated as soon as tinnitus developed whereas human subjects treated with rTMS generally have chronic tinnitus of long standing.…”

“…The high variability in efficacy and duration of symptom suppression between studies is presumably associated with the widely differing parameters applied in each case: high or low frequency stimulation28, applied over auditory or prefrontal cortex, one-sided or bilaterally2229. The lack of parameter consistency highlights our poor understanding of the mechanisms of plasticity induced by rTMS.…”

Assessing consciousness in coma and related states using transcranial magnetic stimulation combined with electroencephalography

“…More work is also needed before using this tool in routine clinical practice, such as developing compact TMS-EEG equipment and fast, standardized data analysis software. Repetitive TMS should also be investigated for therapeutic purposes as positive effects have been observed in a few UWS and MCS patients [63,64] as well as in patients suffering from aphasia [65], depression [66], tinnitus [67] or migraine [68]. The challenge in future years will also be to combine information coming from different neuroimaging techniques available (e.g., fMRI, TMS, EEG) in order to deepen our understanding of brain (dys)functions and to improve the process of diagnosis, as well as in improving the prognosis in this challenging population.…”

Combination of gaps in noise detection and visual analog scale for measuring tinnitus components in patients treated with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation

“…By analogy with pain research, VAS has become increasingly used to assess treatment-induced changes in the extent of annoyance caused by tinnitus [9]. Validated instruments responsive to changes in tinnitus loudness are urgently required.…”