Electrophysiological correlates of focused attention on low- and high-distressed tinnitus.

ObjectivesThe study aimed at determining the EEG correlates of concentration on either low or high-distressed tinnitus.MethodsSixty-seven patients (36 women, mean age = 50.34 ± 12.94 years) with chronic tinnitus were assigned to either a high (HD) or low (LD) tinnitus-related distress group based on THI results. All participants took part in the EEG study comprising two 3-4 min blocks of focusing on either tinnitus (Tinnitus Focus Condition, TFC) or the sensations from one's own body (Body Focus Condition, BFC). The absolute power and current density of 8 frequency bands in 7 clusters were compared between conditions and groups.ResultsThe most pronounced differences were found in the HD patients in the TFC, relative to the BFC, i.e. reduced power of frontally distributed low alpha (8-10 Hz) and posterior high alpha (10-12 Hz) as well as lower current density of 8-10 Hz rhythm over the right frontal/anterior cingulate cortex and higher middle beta (15-18 Hz) density in the precuneus. The HD, relative to LD patients, in both conditions, exhibited increased low beta (12-15 Hz) power over the left middle area and greater higher beta (15-25 Hz) power in the left posterior region.ConclusionsThe present study contrasted bioelectrical activity, acquired when concentrating on tinnitus with EEG data collected whilst patients focused on their body. Decreased alpha power and current density in the frontal/cingulate cortex when listening to bothersome tinnitus might reflect greater cortical arousal whereas increased beta power and density in the precuneus/posterior cingulate activity in this condition could be indicative for elevated tension or augmented cognitive/emotional processing of tinnitus sound. Enhanced beta rhythm in patients with high versus low tinnitus distress, observed independently of the study condition, may be due to greater self-focused attention or more active processing of sensations derived from the own body

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy data acquired in tinnitus subjects and healthy volunteers using PRESS sequence

<p>This dataset contains raw free induction decay (FID) signals collected during 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) study in 52 individuals with tinnitus (24 with unilateral and 28 with bilateral tinnitus) and 25 healthy volunteers (described in detail in a separate article doi:10.1038/s41598-023-45024-3).</p><p>Data acquisition was performed using 3T Siemens Prisma Fit scanner with a 20-channel receiver head-coil. A single voxel spectroscopy (SVS) PRESS (Point-Resolved Spectroscopy Sequence) sequence was applied for collection of MRS data, using standard Siemens water suppression (water saturation, 50 Hz bandwidth) and no lipid suppression. MRS data was collected from four cubic 3.75 cm3 (1.5 cm x 1.5 cm x 1.5 cm) regions-of-interest in the brain, placed in the left temporal lobe, right temporal lobe, left frontal lobe, and right frontal lobe. The MRS sequence parameters were: TR (time of repetition) = 2000 ms, TE (time of echo) = 40 ms, TA (time of acquisition) = 4 min 26 s, 128 averages with 1024 time points and 1200 Hz bandwidth.</p><p>MRS data is stored in RDA file format, developed by Siemens (see doi:10.1002/nbm.4257, Table 1). Each RDA file contains a text header (which can be viewed using a standard notepad application) and binary FID signal under the header. Data can be imported for analysis using several open-source packages (tested with FID-A doi:10.1002/mrm.26091 and spant doi:10.21105/joss.03646). </p><p>Naming scheme of files is as follows:</p><p><participant ID>_<hemisphere: L or R>_<region: F (frontal) or T (temporal)>.rda</p><p>For example: <i>001_L_F.rda</i> is data from participant 001 collected from a voxel placed in a ROI in the left frontal lobe.</p><p>In order to allow replication of the results from the original article, we also added information about the group of each of the subjects. This information is stored in a TSV file containing two columns: <i>participant_ID</i> and<i> group</i> (C – control, TU – unilateral tinnitus, TB – bilateral tinnitus).</p><p>Aside from replication of our results this dataset may be used e.g. for testing of different MRS data processing pipelines.</p>Contact details: Prof. Tomasz Wolak, head of Bioimaging Research Center of Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing ([email protected]