Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Jun;14(6):e3571.
doi: 10.1002/brb3.3571.

Investigation of the behavior of tinnitus patients under varying listening conditions with simultaneous electroencephalography and pupillometry

Eser Sendesen  1 , Didem Turkyilmaz  1
Affiliations

Investigation of the behavior of tinnitus patients under varying listening conditions with simultaneous electroencephalography and pupillometry

Eser Sendesen et al. Brain Behav. 2024 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to control all hearing thresholds, including extended high frequencies (EHFs), presents stimuli of varying difficulty levels, and measures electroencephalography (EEG) and pupillometry responses to determine whether listening difficulty in tinnitus patients is effort or fatigue-related.

Methods: Twenty-one chronic tinnitus patients and 26 matched healthy controls having normal pure-tone averages with symmetrical hearing thresholds were included. Subjects were evaluated with 0.125-20 kHz pure-tone audiometry, Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test (MoCA), Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), EEG, and pupillometry.

Results: Pupil dilatation and EEG alpha power during the "encoding" phase of the presented sentence in tinnitus patients were less in all listening conditions (p < .05). Also, there was no statistically significant relationship between EEG and pupillometry components for all listening conditions and THI or MoCA (p > .05).

Conclusion: EEG and pupillometry results under various listening conditions indicate potential listening effort in tinnitus patients even if all frequencies, including EHFs, are controlled. Also, we suggest that pupillometry should be interpreted with caution in autonomic nervous system-related conditions such as tinnitus.

Keywords: electroencephalography; extended high frequencies; listening effort; pupillometry; tinnitus.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
The average hearing thresholds for each group's right and left ears.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Topographical maps of EEG alpha band response for each listening condition in tinnitus (n = 21) and control groups (n = 26).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Aksoy, S. , Firat, Y. , & Alpar, R. (2007). The Tinnitus Handicap Inventory: A study of validity and reliability. International Tinnitus Journal, 13(2), 94. - PubMed
    1. Alhanbali, S. , Dawes, P. , Millman, R. E. , & Munro, K. J. (2019). Measures of listening effort are multidimensional. Ear and Hearing, 40(5), 1084. 10.1097/AUD.0000000000000697 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bhatt, J. M. , Bhattacharyya, N. , & Lin, H. W. (2017). Relationships between tinnitus and the prevalence of anxiety and depression. Laryngoscope, 127(2), 466–469. 10.1002/lary.26107 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cho, C. G. , Chi, J. H. , Song, J. J. , Lee, E. K. , & Kim, B. H. (2013). Evaluation of anxiety and depressive levels in tinnitus patients. Korean Journal of Audiology, 17(2), 83. 10.7874/kja.2013.17.2.83 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Colak, H. , Sendesen, E. , & Turkyilmaz, M. D. (2024). Subcortical auditory system in tinnitus with normal hearing: insights from electrophysiological perspective. European Archives of Oto‐Rhino‐Laryngology, 1–10. 10.1007/s00405-024-08583-3 - DOI - PMC - PubMed