Pathological neural plasticity plays a major role in the genesis and maintenance of chronic tinnitus. Reversal of aberrant plasticity is therefore a promising approach to the treatment of tinnitus.We have developed a novel method to direct highly specific and long lasting neural plasticity (Engineer, 2011). Brief bursts of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) trigger release of neuromodulators that direct brain changes specific to associated neural activity patterns. Pairing VNS with tones is sufficient to powerfully shape responses in the central auditory system. We have demonstrated that this therapy can be therapeutic in an animal model of tinnitus and in human patients. We are now optimizing the clinical parameters through parallel studies in humans and preclinical studies in animals. We will present evidence suggesting that with further study VNS-directed plasticity may be optimized to become a reliable, safe, and long-lasting therapy for chronic tinnitus.
37th Congress of IUPS (Birmingham, UK) (2013) Proc 37th IUPS, SA270
Research Symposium: Optimizing VNS-directed neural plasticity for the treatment of chronic tinnitus
M. Kilgard1, M. Borland1, P. Beall1, E. Buell1, S. Vanneste2,1, D. De Ridder2, A. Sloan1, R. Rennaker1
1. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, Texas, United States. 2. University Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium.
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