Research Updates

Action for Tinnitus Research is committed to funding research to find a cure for tinnitus. We are also committed to providing useful and valuable information about what is happening in the world of tinnitus research.

Our aim is to regularly update this page with new articles on research.

Keeping you informed
In future updates, we will explain how the auditory system works and the links to research programmes that are underway. Our intention, through our work, is to keep hope alive for tinnitus sufferers everywhere.

November 2007
Advanced Brain Imaging Research
Neuroscientists working in the US and Europe have been using advanced brain imaging techniques to gain new insights into the parts of the brain involved not only in the generation of tinnitus but also the emotional reactions to it.

September 2007
Somatosensory tinnitus - a special type of tinnitus is providing new clues to how and where tinnitus is generated within the brain and the possible basis for novel treatments

August 2007
ATR work was presented alongside the latest findings from research groups from the US, Europe, Japan, South America and Australasia at the Tinnitus Research initiative (TRI) Conference in Monaco.

July 2007
The second meeting organised by Tinnitus Research Initiative (TRI) is taking place in Monaco this week, 17th - 21st July.

June 2007
Belgian scientists have made a breakthrough discovery about a gene - known as 'TGBF1' that appears to contribute to the development of otosclerosis

May 2007
The beneficial effects of placebo in patients not actually receiving active treatment has been recognised by doctors and researchers for many years. Hence the vital importance of including a 'control' group in all clinical trials where possible

April 2007
Tinnitus is a common and often severely disabling disorder for which there is no satisfactory treatment. Neuroimaging studies demonstrate changes in brain activity in the primary and secondary auditory cortices, particularly on the left side

January 2007
Hearing specialists and tinnitus researchers have recognised for some time that tinnitus is experienced in different ways by the patients they see. This can include variation in the tonality and apparent loudness of their tinnitus. Moreover, some patients report changes in the apparent loudness over time. Importantly, it is also known that the impact the loudness and quality their tinnitus has on their daily life also varies between patients.

December 2006
Amongst the most intriguing tinnitus-related discoveries in the last decade, is that some tinnitus patients that find that particular kinds of muscle activity or awareness of sensations in other parts of the body can cause measurable decreases or increases in their tinnitus

November 2006
One of the key questions researchers into tinnitus ask is: 'How does damage to those parts of the ear and brain, that deal with sound, result in tinnitus?

October 2006
An exploratory trial which has recruited sixty tinnitus patients, is now underway at Leicester Royal Infirmary.

September 2006
Can High Strength Magnetic Fields be used to treat tinnitus?

April 2006
Important scientific discoveries give hope of finding a cure

March 2006
How GABA works in the part of the brain that deals with hearing

February 2006
Major research projects we are able to fund with the help of legacies and donations...

November 2005
Research scientists supported by Action for Tinnitus Research are keen to investigate a promising new drug for tinnitus sufferers.

October 2005
Two hearing specialists talk about the research they are involved in ...