title: White Matter Changes in Tinnitus: Is It All Age and Hearing Loss?
abstract: Tinnitus is a condition characterized by the perception of auditory phantom sounds. It is known as the result of complex interactions between auditory and nonauditory regions. However, previous structural imaging studies on tinnitus patients showed evidence of significant white matter changes caused by hearing loss that are positively correlated with aging. Current study focused on which aspects of tinnitus pathologies affect the white matter integrity the most. We used the diffusion tensor imaging technique to acquire images that have higher contrast in brain white matter to analyze how white matter is influenced by tinnitus-related factors using voxel-based methods, region of interest analysis, and deterministic tractography. As a result, white matter integrity in chronic tinnitus patients was both directly affected by age and also mediated by the hearing loss. The most important changes in white matter regions were found bilaterally in the anterior corona radiata, anterior corpus callosum, and bilateral sagittal strata. In the tractography analysis, the white matter integrity values in tracts of right parahippocampus were correlated with the subjective tinnitus loudness.
authors.affiliation: 1 Lab for Clinical & Integrative Neuroscience, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas , Dallas, Texas.
authors.forename: Hye Bin
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.affiliation: 2 Section of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgical Sciences, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago , Dunedin, New Zealand .
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: De Ridder
authors.affiliation: 1 Lab for Clinical & Integrative Neuroscience, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas , Dallas, Texas.
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vanneste
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000378:metabolism*; D066127:White Matter / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: aging; diffusion tensor imaging; hearing loss; mediation effect; tinnitus; top-down pathway