Misophonia: A scoping review of research

ObjectiveTo scope the literature describing misophonia populations, management, and research opportunities.MethodLiterature searches for research studies describing patients diagnosed with misophonia, defining a patient profile, or outlining development or testing of an intervention for misophonia. A data extraction form was developed and piloted before data from each article were independently charted by two researchers. Researchers then agreed on a final data set for each article.ResultsThirty‐one records were included. The misophonia population was described in terms of onset age, triggers, reaction, coping strategies, and comorbid conditions. We identified nine outcome measures. Case studies on treatments included cognitive behavioral therapy, counterconditioning, mindfulness and acceptance, dialectical behavioral therapy, and pharmaceuticals. Future research priorities identified included clarifying the phenomenology and prevalence of misophonia, and randomized controlled trials of treatments.ConclusionMisophonia is under‐researched but there are strong foundations for future research to finalize diagnostic criteria, validate outcome measures, and trial treatments

Simplified form of tinnitus retraining therapy in adults: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Since the first description of tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT), clinicians have modified and customised the method of TRT in order to suit their practice and their patients. A simplified form of TRT is used at Ealing Primary Care Trust Audiology Department. Simplified TRT is different from TRT in the type and (shorter) duration of the counseling but is similar to TRT in the application of sound therapy except for patients exhibiting tinnitus with no hearing loss and no decreased sound tolerance (wearable sound generators were not mandatory or recommended here, whereas they are for TRT). The main goal of this retrospective study was to assess the efficacy of simplified TRT. METHODS: Data were collected from a series of 42 consecutive patients who underwent simplified TRT for a period of 3 to 23 months. Perceived tinnitus handicap was measured by the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and perceived tinnitus loudness, annoyance and the effect of tinnitus on life were assessed through the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). RESULTS: The mean THI and VAS scores were significantly decreased after 3 to 23 months of treatment. The mean decline of the THI score was 45 (SD = 22) and the difference between pre- and post-treatment scores was statistically significant. The mean decline of the VAS scores was 1.6 (SD = 2.1) for tinnitus loudness, 3.6 (SD = 2.6) for annoyance, and 3.9 (SD = 2.3) for effect on life. The differences between pre- and post-treatment VAS scores were statistically significant for tinnitus loudness, annoyance, and effect on life. The decline of THI scores was not significantly correlated with age and duration of tinnitus. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that benefit may be obtained from a substantially simplified form of TRT

Simplified form of tinnitus retraining therapy in adults: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND: Since the first description of tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT), clinicians have modified and customised the method of TRT in order to suit their practice and their patients. A simplified form of TRT is used at Ealing Primary Care Trust Audiology Department. Simplified TRT is different from TRT in the type and (shorter) duration of the counseling but is similar to TRT in the application of sound therapy except for patients exhibiting tinnitus with no hearing loss and no decreased sound tolerance (wearable sound generators were not mandatory or recommended here, whereas they are for TRT). The main goal of this retrospective study was to assess the efficacy of simplified TRT. METHODS: Data were collected from a series of 42 consecutive patients who underwent simplified TRT for a period of 3 to 23 months. Perceived tinnitus handicap was measured by the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and perceived tinnitus loudness, annoyance and the effect of tinnitus on life were assessed through the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). RESULTS: The mean THI and VAS scores were significantly decreased after 3 to 23 months of treatment. The mean decline of the THI score was 45 (SD = 22) and the difference between pre- and post-treatment scores was statistically significant. The mean decline of the VAS scores was 1.6 (SD = 2.1) for tinnitus loudness, 3.6 (SD = 2.6) for annoyance, and 3.9 (SD = 2.3) for effect on life. The differences between pre- and post-treatment VAS scores were statistically significant for tinnitus loudness, annoyance, and effect on life. The decline of THI scores was not significantly correlated with age and duration of tinnitus. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that benefit may be obtained from a substantially simplified form of TRT

The relationship between sensory sensitivity and autistic traits in the general population.

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) tend to have sensory processing difficulties (Baranek et al. in J Child Psychol Psychiatry 47:591–601, 2006). These difficulties include over- and under-responsiveness to sensory stimuli, and problems modulating sensory input (Ben-Sasson et al. in J Autism Dev Disorders 39:1–11, 2009). As those with ASD exist at the extreme end of a continuum of autistic traits that is also evident in the general population, we investigated the link between ASD and sensory sensitivity in the general population by administering two questionnaires online to 212 adult participants. Results showed a highly significant positive correlation (r = .775, p < .001) between number of autistic traits and the frequency of sensory processing problems. These data suggest a strong link between sensory processing and autistic traits in the general population, which in turn potentially implicates sensory processing problems in social interaction difficulties

A Randomized Double-Blind Crossover Study of Phase-Shift Sound Therapy for Tinnitus

Objective. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of the treatment of tinnitus with a phase-shifting pure tone to that of the same tone treatment without phase shifting. Study Design. A double-blind crossover randomized controlled trial. Setting. This study was conducted at the University Medical Center Groningen. Subjects and Methods. Twenty-two patients with predominantly tonal tinnitus underwent both intervention and control treatments. Each treatment consisted of three 30-minute sessions in 1 week. The control treatment was identical to the intervention treatment, except that the stimulus was a pure tone without phase shifting. Questionnaires, tinnitus loudness match, and annoyance and loudness ratings were used to measure treatment effects. Results. Pure-tone treatment and phase-shift treatment had no significant effect on tinnitus according to questionnaires (Tinnitus Handicap Index, Tinnitus Reaction Questionnaire, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and Maastricht Questionnaire), audiological matching procedures, and loudness and annoyance ratings of tinnitus. Furthermore, phase-shift treatment showed no additional significant improvement in comparison with pure-tone treatment. Changes in questionnaire scores due to pure-tone and the phase-shift treatment were correlated. Conclusion. On average across the group, both treatments failed to demonstrate a significant effect. Both treatments were beneficial for some patients. However, a positive effect was not demonstrated that could be attributed to the periodic shifting of the phase of the stimulus tone

Gap-induced reductions of evoked potentials in the auditory cortex: a possible objective marker for the presence of tinnitus in animals

Animal models of tinnitus are essential for determining the underlying mechanisms and testing pharmacotherapies. However, there is doubt over the validity of current behavioural methods for detecting tinnitus. Here, we applied a stimulus paradigm widely used in a behavioural test (gap-induced inhibition of the acoustic startle reflex GPIAS) while recording from the auditory cortex, and showed neural response changes that mirror those found in the behavioural tests. We implanted guinea pigs (GPs) with electrocorticographic (ECoG) arrays and recorded baseline auditory cortical responses to a startling stimulus. When a gap was inserted in otherwise continuous background noise prior to the startling stimulus, there was a clear reduction in the subsequent evoked response (termed gap-induced reductions in evoked potentials; GIREP), suggestive of a neural analogue of the GPIAS test. We then unilaterally exposed guinea pigs to narrowband noise (left ear; 8-10 kHz; 1 hour) at one of two different sound levels - either 105 dB SPL or 120 dB SPL – and recorded the same responses seven-to-ten weeks following the noise exposure. Significant deficits in GIREP were observed for all areas of the auditory cortex (AC) in the 120 dB-exposed GPs, but not in the 105 dB-exposed GPs. These deficits could not simply be accounted for by changes in response amplitudes. Furthermore, in the contralateral (right) caudal AC we observed a significant increase in evoked potential amplitudes across narrowband background frequencies in both 105 dB and 120 dB-exposed GPs. Taken in the context of the large body of literature that has used the behavioural test as a demonstration of the presence of tinnitus, these results are suggestive of objective neural correlates of the presence of noise-induced tinnitus and hyperacusis

Effect of Semaglutide on Regression and Progression of Glycemia in People With Overweight or Obesity but Without Diabetes in the SELECT Trial

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether semaglutide slows progression of glycemia in people with cardiovascular disease and overweight or obesity but without diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: In a multicenter, double-blind trial, participants aged ≥45 years, with BMI ≥27 kg/m2, and with preexisting cardiovascular disease but without diabetes (HbA1c RESULTS: Of 17,604 participants, 8,803 were assigned to semaglutide and 8,801 to placebo. Mean ± SD intervention exposure was 152 ± 56 weeks and follow-up 176 ± 40 weeks. In both treatment arms mean nadir HbA1c for participants was at 20 weeks. Thereafter, HbA1c increased similarly in both arms, with a mean difference of -0.32 percentage points (95% CI -0.33 to -0.30; -3.49 mmol/mol [-3.66 to -3.32]) and with the difference favoring semaglutide throughout the study (P \u3c 0.0001). Body weight plateaued at 65 weeks and was 8.9% lower with semaglutide. At week 156, a greater proportion treated with semaglutide were normoglycemic (69.5% vs. 35.8%; P \u3c 0.0001) and a smaller proportion had biochemical diabetes by week 156 (1.5% vs. 6.9%; P \u3c 0.0001). The number needed to treat was 18.5 to prevent a case of diabetes. Both regression and progression were dependent on glycemia at baseline, with the magnitude of weight reduction important in mediating 24.5% of progression and 27.1% of regression. CONCLUSIONS: In people with preexisting cardiovascular disease and overweight or obesity but without diabetes, long-term semaglutide increases regression to biochemical normoglycemia and reduces progression to biochemical diabetes but does not slow glycemic progression over time

Tinnitus: Distinguishing between Subjectively Perceived Loudness and Tinnitus-Related Distress

OBJECTIVES: Overall success of current tinnitus therapies is low, which may be due to the heterogeneity of tinnitus patients. Therefore, subclassification of tinnitus patients is expected to improve therapeutic allocation, which, in turn, is hoped to improve therapeutic success for the individual patient. The present study aims to define factors that differentially influence subjectively perceived tinnitus loudness and tinnitus-related distress. METHODS: In a questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey, the data of 4705 individuals with tinnitus were analyzed. The self-report questionnaire contained items about subjective tinnitus loudness, type of onset, awareness and localization of the tinnitus, hearing impairment, chronic comorbidities, sleep quality, and psychometrically validated questionnaires addressing tinnitus-related distress, depressivity, anxiety, and somatic symptom severity. In a binary step-wise logistic regression model, we tested the predictive power of these variables on subjective tinnitus loudness and tinnitus-related distress. RESULTS: The present data contribute to the distinction between subjective tinnitus loudness and tinnitus-related distress. Whereas subjective loudness was associated with permanent awareness and binaural localization of the tinnitus, tinnitus-related distress was associated with depressivity, anxiety, and somatic symptom severity. CONCLUSIONS: Subjective tinnitus loudness and the potential presence of severe depressivity, anxiety, and somatic symptom severity should be assessed separately from tinnitus-related distress. If loud tinnitus is the major complaint together with mild or moderate tinnitus-related distress, therapies should focus on auditory perception. If levels of depressivity, anxiety or somatic symptom severity are severe, therapies and further diagnosis should focus on these symptoms at first

Auditory Resting-State Network Connectivity in Tinnitus: A Functional MRI Study

The underlying functional neuroanatomy of tinnitus remains poorly understood. Few studies have focused on functional cerebral connectivity changes in tinnitus patients. The aim of this study was to test if functional MRI “resting-state” connectivity patterns in auditory network differ between tinnitus patients and normal controls. Thirteen chronic tinnitus subjects and fifteen age-matched healthy controls were studied on a 3 tesla MRI. Connectivity was investigated using independent component analysis and an automated component selection approach taking into account the spatial and temporal properties of each component. Connectivity in extra-auditory regions such as brainstem, basal ganglia/NAc, cerebellum, parahippocampal, right prefrontal, parietal, and sensorimotor areas was found to be increased in tinnitus subjects. The right primary auditory cortex, left prefrontal, left fusiform gyrus, and bilateral occipital regions showed a decreased connectivity in tinnitus. These results show that there is a modification of cortical and subcortical functional connectivity in tinnitus encompassing attentional, mnemonic, and emotional networks. Our data corroborate the hypothesized implication of non-auditory regions in tinnitus physiopathology and suggest that various regions of the brain seem involved in the persistent awareness of the phenomenon as well as in the development of the associated distress leading to disabling chronic tinnitus