Daily Bi-temporal Transcranial Random Noise Stimulation in Tinnitus

Tinnitus is the phantom auditory perception of sound in the absence of an external or internal acoustic stimulus. It is a frequent problem which can interfere significantly with the ability to lead a normal life. Tinnitus has been shown to be generated in the brain, as a result of functional reorganization of auditory neural pathways and the central auditory system. These changes are represented by hyper-activity and hyper-synchronicity in the auditory pathway. Treatment remains difficult. Non-invasive brain stimulation methods has shown to be effective in the treatment of chronic tinnitus with moderate effect size. Preliminary data presented on international conferences suggest the use of transcranial random noise stimulation (tRNS) over both auditory cortices as new and highly effective treatment. High-frequency (hf; 100-650Hz) tRNS might be highly effective in tackling hyper-synchronised cell assemblies. Daily Hf-tRNS (2 weeks) will be examined with regard to feasibility, safety and clinical efficacy in patients suffering from chronic tinnitus in an one-arm pilot trial.