Homeostatic mechanisms and treatment of tinnitus

Tinnitus, the phantom percept of sound, is a potentially debilitating disorder affecting up to ten percent of the general population. After decades of effort, we still lack an effective treatment for tinnitus, partly because of its diverse underlying etiology. Recent studies have yielded hypotheses for central mechanisms underlying hearing loss-induced tinnitus, the most common form of tinnitus. Here we review recent evidence that homeostatic down-regulation of phasic and tonic inhibition is a mechanism underlying hearing loss-induced tinnitus. We propose to treat tinnitus through novel strategies of sensory training and targeted pharmacological intervention to reverse the homeostatic changes induced by hearing loss. © 2013 IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved.