November 27, 2025, 03:49 PM
Key take aways:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-25065-6
- People with tinnitus didn’t have worse hearing than those without tinnitus - because hearing tests showed both groups had almost identical hearing levels.
- Basic brainstem hearing signals were the same in both groups - because the ABR test (a quick electrical test of hearing pathways) showed no meaningful differences.
- Thinking and mood were similar in both groups - because both scored the same on simple questionnaires for cognition and depression.
- Deep brain "filtering" areas were larger in people with tinnitus - MRI scans showed the basal ganglia (brain hubs that help filter signals and control attention) were about 7–8% bigger.
- This suggests tinnitus is more about how the brain handles signals, not about damage in the ear - because the ear pathways looked normal, but the brain’s control/filter areas were changed.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-25065-6