title: Cervical spine disorders and its association with tinnitus: The "triple" hypothesis.
abstract: Subjective tinnitus and cervical spine disorders (CSD) are among the most common complaints encountered by physicians. Although the relationship between tinnitus and CSD has attracted great interest during the past several years, the pathogenesis of tinnitus induced by CSD remains unclear. Conceivably, CSD could trigger a somatosensory pathway-induced disinhibition of dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN) activity in the auditory pathway; furthermore, CSD can cause inner ear blood impairment induced by vertebral arteries hemodynamic alterations and trigeminal irritation. In genetically -predisposed CSD patients with reduced serotoninergic tone, signals from chronically stimulated DCNs could activate specific cortical neuronal networks and plastic neural changes resulting in tinnitus. Therefore, an early specific tailored CSD treatments and/or boosting serotoninergic activity may be required to prevent the creation of 'tinnitus memory circuits' in CSD patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Campus Bio-Medico University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bressi
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Campus Bio-Medico University, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: m.casale@unicampus.it.
authors.forename: Manuele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Casale
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Campus Bio-Medico University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Rocco
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Papalia
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Campus Bio-Medico University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moffa
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Campus Bio-Medico University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Martino
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Campus Bio-Medico University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miccinilli
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Campus Bio-Medico University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Salvinelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Campus Bio-Medico University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Denaro
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Campus Bio-Medico University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sterzi
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000818:Animals; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology*; D017626:Cochlear Nucleus / Q000503:physiopathology; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D008959:Models, Neurological; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009415:Nerve Net; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D009435:Synaptic Transmission; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014276:Trigeminal Nerve / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D012701:Serotonin