Prevention and Treatment of Noise-Induced Tinnitus

Results from the first year of studies indicate that a 2 12 minute exposure to a small arms fire - like noise will induce tinnitus in some but not all of the noise-exposed rats. The noise exposure generates a hearing loss as measured by the auditory brain stem response ranging from mild to large that correlates with the amount of sensory cell hair cell loss induced by the noise. There can also be a loss of some of the auditory nerve terminals in the cochlear nucleus. Studies are now assessing the amount of loss of inner hair cell auditory nerve connections and looking for a correlation between each type of loss and the appearance of tinnitus. Studies are also now examining if antioxidant and anti-excitotoxicity therapeutics prior to the noise exposure will prevent the losses and reduce the incidence of tinnitus.