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. 1987;28(2-3):271-5.
doi: 10.1016/0378-5955(87)90054-2.

The analogy between tinnitus and pain: a suggestion for a physiological basis of chronic tinnitus

J Tonndorf  1
Affiliations

The analogy between tinnitus and pain: a suggestion for a physiological basis of chronic tinnitus

J Tonndorf. Hear Res. 1987.

Abstract

A new hypothesis is developed concerning the origin of chronic tinnitus. It is based on an analogy between tinnitus and intractable pain, both of their causes being seen in the de-afferentation of nerve fibers. It is suggested that in the control of tinnitus the same interplay exists between large inner-hair-cell fibers, and small outer-hair-cell fibers, provided they are deafferented, that was demonstrated to exist between large and small deafferented fibers of the somato-sensory system in the control of pain.

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