A widely used method for detecting tinnitus in rodents is the gap pre-pulse inhibition of the acoustic startle (GPIAS). One variant uses the Preyer reflex to assess the startle response and a component of this can be measured as a small muscle potential generated by the post-auricular muscle reflex (PAMR). The question was whether the GPIAS method could also be used to identify tinnitus in humans using the PAMR response. We recruited 19 participants with chronic tinnitus and 18 age-matched controls, but 12 tinnitus participants were unable to contribute data to the final result due to hyperacusis or lack of a PAMR. A majority of those tinnitus participants with a detectable PAMR showed some evidence of GPIAS (71%, 5/7). In the control group, most showed a PAMR response (67%, 12/18) and most of these demonstrated GPIAS (67%, 8/12). Our stimulus parameters were not completely optimal for showing a PAMR response so, with further refinement it may be possible to use the PAMR response and GPIAS as an objective method for demonstrating tinnitus in humans
