Neural Beamforming for Tinnitus Multimodal Synchronization Therapy (mSync) University of Minnesota.

Great news, as a Tinnitus patient I’m excited we have Nueromod, University of Michigan, Texas and University of Minnesota all in the Nueromodulation Tinnitus Bimodal Stimulation Therapy Arena

A huge research finding at U of Minnesota is regarding Stress effect on therapies.

Stress and Attention Levels Affect Neuromodulation Outcomes

A former graduate student in the lab, Cory Gloeckner, discovered that the type of plasticity elicited in the auditory system using mSync is greatly altered depending on the attention and stress levels of the animals. These mSync plasticity effects were compared between anesthetized and awake animals chronically implanted with electrode arrays in the auditory cortex, in which varying levels of stress were elicited in the animals using well-established animal calming techniques and measured with the elevated plus maze test. The findings from this study reveal the importance of controlling for or at least monitoring stress and attention levels during neuromodulation therapy to improve stimulation settings (publication in preparation). Further studies are being pursued to integrate traditional neuromodulation approaches with stress relaxation and mental exercise techniques towards an integrative or holistic neuromodulation treatment for tinnitus and other health disorders.

The SONIC Lab is conducting scientific studies that are focused on developing a non-invasive treatment for tinnitus, a neurological condition in which a phantom sound percept occurs in the absence of an external sound source. Tinnitus is a major health issue in our society, affecting 5-10% of the population and including a large portion of the working force and military personnel. Unfortunately, there are currently no consistent or predictable treatment options for tinnitus patients.

“By combining stimulation across these modalities at precise timing intervals, we propose the ability to achieve localized activation of specific populations of neurons while diffusely activating neighboring pathways, based on the assumption that different neurons have varying combinations and timing of these inputs. For mSync implementation, we hypothesize that: (1) the aberrant neural populations driving an abnormal brain condition are able to be activated by multiple inputs/pathways; (2) some or all of these pathways can be activated non-invasively; (3) using appropriate timing of activation, these pathways will elicit converging synchronized activation of the targeted neural population while eliciting temporally-diffuse activation of other populations due to difference in latencies of convergence; and (4) through repetition, the converging activation can induce neural plasticity relevant for treating the abnormal brain state.”

Source - University of Minnesota.

Learn more about Neuroplasticity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuroplasticity