Current Research

Currently, the neuropsychological focus is on the investigation into the neuropathology of tinnitus. For this purpose, we evaluate data obtained from questionnaires and other behavioral measurements as well data from neurophysiological procedures. The immediate objective of this approach is to gain a better understanding of the heterogeneity of symptoms in patients with tinnitus and, in the long term, to possibly develop a classification scheme by which to identify tinnitus subtypes for better individual treatment. In the treatment of tinnitus, we are currently testing several neuromodulatory procedures (e.g. tomographic neurofeedback, transcranial alternating current stimulation and auditory "entrainment"), which aim to overwrite the neural manifestations of tinnitus. Another research strand aims to improve our understanding of tinnitus, diffuse hearing loss and difficulties in understanding spoken language, especially in noisy environments. To date, this topic is largely unexplored despite frequent manifestations in patients with tinnitus.

Although the neurophysiological cause and dynamics of tinnitus are beyond question, the underlying mechanisms are still not sufficiently understood. To make matters worse, the subjective intensity of chronic tinnitus is highly moderated by psychological factors and varies interindividually. The planned basic research aims at creating neurophysiologically basing individual tinnitus profiles of affected people in order to create a starting point for effective interventions. In the long term, we plan to develop neuropsychological therapies based on the individual diagnosis of spontaneous brain activity.