2021/09/10 | Research | Rehabilitation & Neural Engineering

Bayesian Brain for Tinnitus

The Hearing Research Lab of the Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, and the ARTORG Center has developed a generative computational model for tinnitus, based on the Bayesian brain concept. The model is able to explain several perceptual tinnitus phenomena that are to date poorly understood. It can be applied for future research and treatment approaches by linking experimental observations with theoretical hypotheses.

Computational tinnitus model able to display the typical perceptual tinnitus phenomena residual inhibition and residual excitation. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heares.2021.108338)

Little is yet known about the mechanisms triggering and controlling tinnitus. To evaluate theoretical hypotheses of the condition that exhibits different mechanisms, the Hearing Research Lab has now developed a generative computational model. With its help, the tinnitus phenomena of residual inhibition, residual excitation, and the occurrence of tinnitus after sensory deprivation can be realistically reproduced.

It is the first experimental setup that effectively allows the input of sound stimuli and plays out a typical tinnitus result. The model can be used to design and optimize behavioural testing paradigms and to guide future tinnitus research.