The present study uses a systems engineering approach to delineate the relationship between tinnitus and hyperacusis as a result of either hearing loss in the ear or an imbalanced state in the brain. Specifically examined is the input-output function, or loudness growth as a function of intensity in both normal and pathological conditions. Tinnitus reduces the output dynamic range by raising th...

Tinnitus and hyperacusis are common, burdensome sources of morbidity with a high rate of co-occurrence. Knudson et al. (J Neurophysiol 112: 3197-3208, 2014) demonstrated that efferent suppression of cochlear activity by the medial olivocochlear system is enhanced in individuals with tinnitus and/or hyperacusis. Their findings stress that atypical activity in the efferent auditory pathway may re...

INTRODUCTION Tinnitus and hyperacusis are common symptoms of excessive auditory perception in the general population; however, their anatomical substrates and disease associations continue to be defined. PATIENTS with semantic dementia (SemD) frequently report tinnitus and hyperacusis but the significance and basis for these symptoms have not been elucidated. METHODS 43 patients with a diag...

The aim of this study was to explore the collapsibility of the Italian version of Khalfa’s hyperacusis questionnaire (HQ). We identified the more statistically significant items of the HQ and created the short hyperacusis questionnaire (SHQ). We recruited 117 consecutive outpatients with a primary complaint of tinnitus at least from 3 months. All patients filled in the complete Italian version ...

Hyperacusis, defined as unusual intolerance to ordinary environmental sounds, is a common problem for which there are no controlled trials on psychological treatment. Given the avoidance strategies present in hyperacusis, and similarities with problems such as tinnitus and chronic pain, cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) is hypothesized to be helpful for patients with hyperacusis. In this random...

Hearing loss often triggers an inescapable buzz (tinnitus) and causes everyday sounds to become intolerably loud (hyperacusis), but exactly where and how this occurs in the brain is unknown. To identify the neural substrate for these debilitating disorders, we induced both tinnitus and hyperacusis with an ototoxic drug (salicylate) and used behavioral, electrophysiological, and functional magne...

Hyperacusis is described as abnormally sensitive hearing in which normally tolerable sounds are perceived as excessively loud (Stach, 1997). It is not associated with unusually low (good) thresholds for detecting sounds. In other words, the absolute threshold, as measured by the pure-tone audiogram, does not indicate hypersensitivity to very weak sounds. Rather, hyperacusis is manifested by ave...

Purpose: Hyperacusis can be extremely debilitating, and at present, there is no cure. We provide an overview of the field, and possible related areas, in the hope of facilitating future research. Method: We review and reference literature on hyperacusis and related areas. We have divided the review into 2 articles. In Part I, we discuss definitions, epidemiology, different etiologies and subgro...

Phonophobia and hyperacusis are two separate but closely related symptoms that are often mistakenly used in clinical practice as the same entity. Here we present a case report to highlight the distinguishing features of both and discuss the steps of management in these conditions. It is vital for the attending doctors to recognise hyperacusis and phonophobia as different entities to manage them...

The prevalence of hearing problems in the Western world has, due to aging of the population, doubled over the past 30 years. Thereby, noise-induced hearing loss is an important factor that worsens over time in addition to age-related hearing loss. Hearing loss is usually measured as an elevation of a person's hearing thresholds, expressed in decibel (dB). However, recent animal studies have unr...