Plans for the future

The goal of this research program is to take a significant step closer to an effective tinnitus treatment.

Dr Roland Schaette explains how the team at the UCL Ear Institute plan to proceed if the funding is secured:

"We will investigate how tinnitus is triggered and how it manifests itself in the brain, in order to corroborate how a specific mechanism gives rise to the aberrant nerve cell activity that underlies the tinnitus sensation. From our recent research, we know that tinnitus is associated with changes in the response properties of nerve cells in the first stages of the auditory system, i.e. at a sub-cortical level.

In the current project, we will investigate how tinnitus changes information processing in the brain, test different ways of influencing the response properties of the affected nerve cells, and develop and test pharmaceuticals that have the potential to reverse the pathological changes. To this end, we will use a combined approach that incorporates models of tinnitus, computer models of tinnitus generation, investigations in tinnitus patients, and clinical studies. We believe that only by incorporating all these levels into a single program will we be able to understand tinnitus and find a cure.

We will study how tinnitus is triggered, and how tinnitus manifests itself in the brain through altered patterns of spontaneous activity of nerve cells in the auditory system. In the pharmacological component of the project, we will test existing and newly designed drugs for their ability to reverse tinnitus-related changes, using both in vitro and in vivo paradigms. These studies will be complemented by measurements of neural correlates of tinnitus in humans. The experiments are designed such that all data is directly comparable, and all data will be integrated into our computer models. Finally, in collaboration with colleagues at the Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital, we will start to explore the potential and limitations of acoustic stimulation strategies against tinnitus, and we will seek to bring specific pharmaceuticals to clinical trials in humans.

Funding from a dedicated charity like the BTA makes a huge difference, and indeed is crucial to achieving our aims"