Severe tinnitus and its effect on selective and divided attention

Stevens, Catherine J.; Walker, Gary; Boyer, Morten; Gallagher, Melinda

doi:10.1080/14992020601102329

Cited by 136 publications

(131 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…In contrast, in patients with low tinnitus related impact (compensated patients), the tinnitus can be ''absent'' (in the sense of not being perceived) for many hours during the day especially in situations where the patients focus their attention on things like work, interesting communication with other people, etc. A correlate of the described behavior of tinnitus patients with high psychological impact are the findings in recent literature (Dornhoffer et al 2006;Stevens et al 2007) that tinnitus patients show attentional deficits in different tasks. These authors, as well as Cuny et al (2004), assumed a passive attention bias that resulted from permanently listening to the tinnitus.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…The deficits shown in the study by Rossiter et al (2006), who observed differences between tinnitus and control groups with regard to tasks requiring strategic controlled processing, could also be explained by the amount of attention paid to the tinnitus. In the paper by Stevens et al (2007), tinnitus affected the performance in an attention demanding task as well.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Alterations in Event Related Potentials (ERP) Associated with Tinnitus Distress and Attention

Delb

Strauß

Low³

et al. 2008

Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback

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Tinnitus related distress corresponds to different degrees of attention paid to the tinnitus. Shifting attention to a signal other than the tinnitus is therefore particularly difficult for patients with high tinnitus related distress. As attention effects on Event Related Potentials (ERP) have been shown this should be reflected in ERP measurements (N100, phase locking). In order to prove this hypothesis single sweep ERP recordings were obtained in 41 tinnitus patients as well as 10 control subjects during a period of time when attention was shifted to a tone (attended) and during a second phase (unattended) when they did not focus attention to the tone. Whereas tinnitus patients with low distress showed a significant reduction in both N100 amplitude and phase locking when comparing the attended and unattended measurement condition a group of patients with high tinnitus related distress did not show such ERP alterations. Using single sweep ERP measurements the results of our study show, that attention in high tinnitus related distress patients is captured by their tinnitus significantly more than in low distress patients. Furthermore our results provide the basis for future neurofeedback based tinnitus therapies aiming at maximizing the ability to shift attention away from the tinnitus.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alterations in Event Related Potentials (ERP) Associated with Tinnitus Distress and Attention

Delb

Strauß

Low³

et al. 2008

Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback

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show abstract

“…Researchers have shown that hearing loss may be associated with tinnitus and may lead to problems in conjunction with high cognitive load and/or be associated with cognitive changes (Granick et al, 1976;Pearman, Freidman, Brooks, & Yesavage, 2000). Because of this realization, thresholds have been measured in subsequent experimental work (e.g., Stevens, Walker, & Gallagher, 2005).…”

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tinnitus and Its Effect on Working Memory and Attention

Rossiter

Stevens

Walker

2006

J Speech Lang Hear Res

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148

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Tinnitus and Its Effect on Working Memory and AttentionPurpose: In 2 experiments, the assumption that continual orienting to tinnitus uses cognitive resources was investigated. It was hypothesized that differences in performance of tinnitus and control groups would manifest during demanding or unfamiliar tasks that required strategic, controlled processing and that reduced performance was not related solely to levels of anxiety. Method: Nineteen participants with chronic, moderate tinnitus-matched with a control group for age, education, and verbal IQ-completed auditory verbal working-memory and visual divided-attention tasks, with task order counterbalanced across participants. Results: As hypothesized, reading span of the tinnitus group was significantly shorter than that of the control group (Task 1). In Task 2, the tinnitus group recorded slower reaction times and poorer accuracy in the most demanding dual task context. Covariate analyses revealed that differences in task performance were not attributable to anxiety scale scores. Conclusions: Complaints of the distracting effects of tinnitus have a basis in performance test outcomes. Future research should investigate effects of severe tinnitus and possible effects of hearing loss. At the level of theory development, results from this study suggest that tinnitus affects cognition to the extent that it reduces cognitive capacity needed to perform tasks that require voluntary, conscious, effortful, and strategic control.KEY WORDS: tinnitus, working memory, divided attention, anxiety, controlled processes, automatic processes T innitus, the perception of sound in the absence of corresponding auditory stimulation, is a widespread phenomenon. Estimates of the incidence of tinnitus in the general population vary widely. Epidemiological studies, in which an attempt is made to include every member of the designated population in the sample, are unique in that they can provide accurate estimates of the prevalence of tinnitus, free from the biasing effects of drawing samples from clinical populations or calling for volunteers. A recent epidemiological survey conducted on the aged population (55 years and over) of a township west of Sydney, Australia, revealed that 30% of this group had experienced at least one episode of tinnitus in the year preceding the interview. This study was composed of 26% of participants with normal threshold acuity and 35% of participants with a hearing loss (Sindhusake et al., 2003). Sindhusake et al. reviewed six recent population-based studies of tinnitus prevalence in the general population and arrived at a range of 13% to 18%.Chronic tinnitus can be accompanied by depression (Folmer, Griest, & Martin, 2001;Holgers, Erlandsson, & Barrenas, 2000), anxiety (G. Andersson & Vretblad, 2000;Folmer et al., 2001), insomnia (Folmer et al., 2001), problems with auditory perception (Hallam, Jakes, & Hinchcliffe, 1988;Tyler & Baker, 1983), and poor general and mental health. In extreme cases, intractable tinnitus may lead to suicide (Johnston & Walke...

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“…Tinnitus can inflict a wide range of distress; it has been strongly correlated with difficulty sleeping, irritability, anxiety, and depression (Andersson, 2002(Andersson, , 2004Andersson and McKenna, 1998;Belli et al, 2008;Cronlein et al, 2007;Dobie, 2003;Erlandsson and Hallberg, 2000;Folmer and Griest, 2000;Folmer et al, 1999;Halford and Anderson, 1991;Hebert and Carrier, 2007;Marciano et al, 2003;McKenna, 2000;McKenna et al, 1991;Robinson et al, 2003;Tyler and Conrad-Armes, 1983;Tyler et al, 2007). Tinnitus has been shown to negatively influence cognitive functioning such as working memory and attention (Rossiter et al, 2006;Stevens et al, 2007), and at the extreme, has been linked to suicide ( Johnston and Walker, 1996;Lewis et al, 1994;Turner et al, 2007). Accompanied by these clinical sequelae, the cost for seeking clinical help has been staggering.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blast-Induced Tinnitus and Hearing Loss in Rats: Behavioral and Imaging Assays

Mao

Pace

Pierozynski

et al. 2012

Journal of Neurotrauma

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The current study used a rat model to investigate the underlying mechanisms of blast-induced tinnitus, hearing loss, and associated traumatic brain injury (TBI). Seven rats were used to evaluate behavioral evidence of tinnitus and hearing loss, and TBI using magnetic resonance imaging following a single 10-msec blast at 14 psi or 194 dB sound pressure level (SPL). The results demonstrated that the blast exposure induced early onset of tinnitus and central hearing impairment at a broad frequency range. The induced tinnitus and central hearing impairment tended to shift towards high frequencies over time. Hearing threshold measured with auditory brainstem responses also showed an immediate elevation followed by recovery on day 14, coinciding with behaviorally-measured results. Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging results demonstrated significant damage and compensatory plastic changes to certain auditory brain regions, with the majority of changes occurring in the inferior colliculus and medial geniculate body. No significant microstructural changes found in the corpus callosum indicates that the currently adopted blast exposure mainly exerts effects through the auditory pathways rather than through direct impact onto the brain parenchyma. The results showed that this animal model is appropriate for investigation of the mechanisms underlying blast-induced tinnitus, hearing loss, and related TBI. Continued investigation along these lines will help identify pathology with injury/recovery patterns, aiding development of effective treatment strategies.

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Severe tinnitus and its effect on selective and divided attention

Cited by 136 publications

References 39 publications

Alterations in Event Related Potentials (ERP) Associated with Tinnitus Distress and Attention

Alterations in Event Related Potentials (ERP) Associated with Tinnitus Distress and Attention

Tinnitus and Its Effect on Working Memory and Attention

Blast-Induced Tinnitus and Hearing Loss in Rats: Behavioral and Imaging Assays

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