Suppression of tinnitus: developing a micro-electric stimulator with closed-loop real-time information processing and its application to awake brains

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15H02772
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Life / Health / Medical informatics
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: Tateno Takashi 北海道大学, 情報科学研究科, 教授 (00314401)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 神保 泰彦 東京大学, 大学院工学系研究科(工学部), 教授 (20372401)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 脳刺激法 / 耳鳴り / 脳活動計測

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we aimed to reveal the physiological mechanisms of drug-induced tinnitus using the brain of an animal model. In addition, we developed a new micro magnetic stimulation technique to suppress tinnitus-related neural activity. Recently, it has been revealed that tinnitus is not only associated with the peripheral auditory system, but also the central auditory system including, for example, the thalamus and the auditory cortex. Here, we revealed that, in the anesthetized brain of an animal model using tinnitus-inducers, neural activity regions over some auditory areas were expanded, compared to the control. Further, the developed micro magnetic stimulators were effective to evoke neural activity over the surface brain for the future aim to suppress tinnitus-related neural activity. Although we have not tested the effectiveness of the suppression to the tinnitus associated activity, we expected that the magnetic stimulator will be applied to the suppression.

Free Research Field

神経工学