Habituation deficit in auditory event-related potentials in tinnitus complainers

• Published in: Hearing research Vol. 181; no. 1; pp. 57 - 64
• Main Authors: Walpurger, Verena, Hebing-Lennartz, Gabriele, Denecke, Heide, Pietrowsky, Reinhard
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01-07-2003; Elsevier
• Subjects: Acoustic Stimulation - methods; Adult; Auditory Perception; Biological and medical sciences; Case-Control Studies; Ear, auditive nerve, cochleovestibular tract, facial nerve: diseases, semeiology; Event-related potential; Evoked Potentials, Auditory; Female; Habituation; Habituation, Psychophysiologic; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; NIHL, noise-induced hearing loss; Non tumoral diseases; Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Psychophysics - methods; Reaction Time; Surveys and Questionnaires; Tinnitus; Tinnitus - physiopathology; Tinnitus complainer; Tinnitus non-complainer; Vertex potential; Fz, frontocentral electrode position; Tinnitus non-complainer; VEOG, vertical electro-oculogram; EEG, electroencephalogram; ERP, event-related potential; Habituation; ENT, ear, nose and throat; Event-related potential; NIHL, noise-induced hearing loss; Vertex potential; Cz, centrocentral electrode position; Tinnitus complainer; Pz, parietocentral electrode position; ANOVA, analysis of variance; ADS, allgemeine Depressionsskala (standardized depression questionnaire); Tinnitus; Human; Noise; Internal ear disease; Electrophysiology; Auditory disorder; Hearing loss; Acoustic stimulus; ENT disease; noise-induced hearing loss; Tinnitus; Tinnitus complainer: Tinnitus non-complainer; Habituation; Event-related potential; Vertex potential. NIHL; Event evoked potential
• ISSN: 0378-5955; 1878-5891
• DOI: 10.1016/S0378-5955(03)00172-2

According to Hallam’s habituation theory of tinnitus, most of the suffering caused by tinnitus is due to difficulties in habituation to the perceived tinnitus sound. Thus tinnitus complainers are assumed to display a less pronounced habituation as compared to tinnitus non-complainers. In the present study, an experimental test of this theory was undertaken using event-related potentials (ERPs) as indicators of habituation to exogenously administered tone pips. In 22 patients (10 tinnitus complainers and 12 tinnitus non-complainers) and 10 healthy controls, the habituation of ERPs to series of auditory stimuli across four consecutive trials was studied. Diminuition of the
N
1 and
P
2 amplitudes of the ERPs was taken to measure the habituation process across the trials. Tinnitus complainers showed a less distinct habituation of the
N
1−
P
2 amplitude difference (vertex potential) compared to tinnitus non-complainers. The results are in accordance with Hallam’s theory and support the notion that patients with a severe tinnitus fail to properly habituate to auditory stimuli.