Skip to content
The American Academy of Audiology
  • Practice Resources
    • Practice Guidelines and Standards
    • Reimbursement
    • Coding
    • Compliance
    • Public Awareness
    • State Medicaid
    • Medicare FAQs
    • COVID-19 Resources
  • Education and Events
    • Event Calendar
    • AAA Annual Conference
    • Academy Research Conference (ARC)
    • Continuing Education
    • eAudiology Online Learning
    • Research Grants and Scholarships
  • News and Publications
    • Audiology Today
    • Newsroom
    • Journal of the American Academy of Audiology
    • Advertising
    • Audiology Solutions Network
    • Online Store
  • Careers
    • Career Center
    • Certification
    • Become an Audiologist
    • Doctoral Programs in Audiology
    • Recruiting
    • Resources for New Audiologists
  • Advocacy
    • Legislative and Regulatory Activities
      • State Affairs
      • Federal Affairs
    • Legislative Action Center
    • Government Relations News
  • About the Academy
    • Contact Us
    • Academy Membership
      • Benefits
      • Ethics
      • Member Directory
      • Membership Renewals
    • Leadership
    • Committees and Task Forces
    • Get Involved
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    • Honors and Awards
    • Sponsorships and Corporate Partners
    • Press and Media Information
  • Audiology Community
  • Consumers
    • What Is an Audiologist
    • Hearing and Balance Symptoms and Conditions
    • Managing Hearing Loss
    • Seniors and Hearing Loss
    • Children and Hearing Loss
FacebookTwitterLinkedinYoutubeInstagram
  • Audiology Community
  • Students
  • Get Involved
  • Donate
  • Renew
The American Academy of Audiology
Member Login
  • Practice Resources
    • Practice Guidelines and Standards
    • Reimbursement
    • Coding
    • Compliance
    • Public Awareness
    • State Medicaid
    • Medicare FAQs
    • COVID-19 Resources
  • Education and Events
    • Event Calendar
    • AAA Annual Conference
    • Academy Research Conference (ARC)
    • Continuing Education
    • eAudiology Online Learning
    • Research Grants and Scholarships
  • News and Publications
    • Audiology Today
    • Newsroom
    • Journal of the American Academy of Audiology
    • Advertising
    • Audiology Solutions Network
    • Online Store
  • Careers
    • Career Center
    • Certification
    • Become an Audiologist
    • Doctoral Programs in Audiology
    • Recruiting
    • Resources for New Audiologists
  • Advocacy
    • Legislative and Regulatory Activities
      • State Affairs
      • Federal Affairs
    • Legislative Action Center
    • Government Relations News
  • About the Academy
    • Contact Us
    • Academy Membership
      • Benefits
      • Ethics
      • Member Directory
      • Membership Renewals
    • Leadership
    • Committees and Task Forces
    • Get Involved
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    • Honors and Awards
    • Sponsorships and Corporate Partners
    • Press and Media Information
  • Audiology Community
  • Consumers
    • What Is an Audiologist
    • Hearing and Balance Symptoms and Conditions
    • Managing Hearing Loss
    • Seniors and Hearing Loss
    • Children and Hearing Loss
September 14, 2018

Turn Off the White Noise Immediately…Well Maybe Not!

  • In the News

A recent review in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery discusses potential negative unintended consequences of broadband noise (BBN) for tinnitus therapy. Attarha et al (2018) present an argument suggesting that data demonstrating influence of BBN on maladaptive plasticity in the auditory pathway may further impair central function and result in a net increase in neural activity (or loss of inhibition) related to tinnitus perception. The manuscript then goes on to discuss novel neuroplasticity-based approaches, including BrainHQ, an adaptive computerized auditory training program developed by the senior author (Merzenich).

The arguments to support their logic suffers from two fundamental flaws. First, the application of BBN in management of tinnitus is not intended to treat tinnitus or engage neural plasticity to disrupt the tinnitus signal. The common application of BBN in tinnitus management is to either “mask” or partially reduce tinnitus perception to aid in the habituation process, i.e., treat the reaction to the tinnitus, not to create neural plasticity to disrupt the signal. Second, the data demonstrating the effect of BBN in creating impaired central auditory function is limited primarily to rodent experiments, where animals are exposed to low level BBN for extended durations of time without other stimulation (e.g., Zhou and Merzenich 2012). However, BBN does not turn off subsequent plasticity that may occur (e.g., Zhu et al, 2014); otherwise BrainHQ would be ineffective. Humans are not raised in BBN in the absence of complex sounds such as speech, music, etc. Therefore, the implications of BBN creating substantial negative consequences on cortical function in humans is largely unknown and likely minimal with exposure to non-BBN sounds.

The suggestion that BBN is not an effective signal to engage neuroplasticity to treat tinnitus is fairly well supported by the authors and a summary on novel developments in tinnitus plasticity-based approaches is provided. The limitation of these studies thus far is lack of placebo-controlled randomized trials and comparison to common tinnitus management strategies. These developments are encouraging, but at this point, none have shown to cure tinnitus. The evidence that BBN exacerbates tinnitus in the majority of patients is at this time unsupported and would be contrary to a fairly substantial literature on the effectiveness of masking and sound therapy approaches for tinnitus management.

References

Attarha M, Bigelow J, Merzenich M. (2018) Unintended consequences of white noise therapy for tinnitus-Otolaryngology’s Cobra Effect.  JAMA Otolaryngol, prepub.

Zhou X,  Merzenich M. (2012) Environmental noise exposure degraded normal listening processes. Nat Comm 3: 843.

Zhu X et al. (2014) Environmental acoustic enrichment promotes recovery from developmentally degraded auditory cortical processing. J Neurosci 34 (16):5406–5415.

Share this

Recent Posts

  • End of Public Health Emergency (PHE) Expected to Take Toll on State Medicaid Programs
  • Consumer Attitudes: Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids
  • Another Kind of Pollution: How Human Noise Is Affecting Whales

Related Posts

Consumer Attitudes: Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids
In the News

Consumer Attitudes: Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids

In a recent article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Singh and Dhar (2023) reported results of a survey to examine consumer attitudes and opinions regarding over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids. The 1,037 participants had no hearing aid experience and were 50 years or older (M=61 years). The survey…

Read More
Another Kind of Pollution: How Human Noise Is Affecting Whales
In the News

Another Kind of Pollution: How Human Noise Is Affecting Whales

When we think of ocean pollution, we might immediately envision garbage such as plastics and other physical waste. But what about noise? Canadian-based researchers are studying the effects of human-made noise on aquatic life, specifically North Atlantic right whales. The effects of sonar, underwater explosions, and shipping noises have long been suspected of interfering with…

Read More
Communication Sciences and Disorders Graduate Admissions Data
In the News

Communication Sciences and Disorders Graduate Admissions Data

Watts and colleagues (2023) examined the relationship between sociodemographic factors and academic factors on an offer of admission to a graduate program in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD). Sociodemographic factors included age, disadvantaged socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, first-generation status, and the ability to speak more than one language at an advanced level. Academic factors included the…

Read More
wave-mark

Join the Academy

Academy members receive many benefits for professional development, practice management, and community development.

Become a Member
COMM22-Academy_Website_Graphics-Retina-Celebrating_35_Years (W)-min

American Academy of Audiology
11480 Commerce Park Drive
Suite 220
Reston, VA 20191

Tel: 703-790-8466
Fax: 703-790-8631

  • Practice Resources
    • Practice Guidelines and Standards
    • Reimbursement
    • Coding
    • Compliance
    • Public Awareness
    • State Medicaid
    • Medicare FAQs
    • COVID-19 Resources
  • Education and Events
    • Event Calendar
    • AAA Annual Conference
    • Academy Research Conference (ARC)
    • Continuing Education
    • eAudiology Online Learning
    • Research Grants and Scholarships
  • News and Publications
    • Audiology Today
    • Newsroom
    • Journal of the American Academy of Audiology
    • Advertising
    • Audiology Solutions Network
    • Online Store
  • Careers
    • Career Center
    • Certification
    • Become an Audiologist
    • Doctoral Programs in Audiology
    • Recruiting
    • Resources for New Audiologists
  • Advocacy
    • Legislative and Regulatory Activities
      • State Affairs
      • Federal Affairs
    • Legislative Action Center
    • Government Relations News
  • About the Academy
    • Contact Us
    • Academy Membership
      • Benefits
      • Ethics
      • Member Directory
      • Membership Renewals
    • Leadership
    • Committees and Task Forces
    • Get Involved
    • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    • Honors and Awards
    • Sponsorships and Corporate Partners
    • Press and Media Information
  • Audiology Community
  • Consumers
    • What Is an Audiologist
    • Hearing and Balance Symptoms and Conditions
    • Managing Hearing Loss
    • Seniors and Hearing Loss
    • Children and Hearing Loss
  • Audiology Community
  • Students
  • Donate
  • Get Involved
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Antitrust Policy and Guidelines
  • Terms of Use Policy
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Sitemap

© Copyright 2023 American Academy of Audiology

Website by Yoko Co

Scroll To Top