Stimulation Strategies for Tinnitus Suppression in a Neuron Model

Tinnitus is a debilitating perception of sound in the absence of external auditory stimuli. It may have either a central or a peripheral origin in the cochlea. Experimental studies evidenced that an electrical stimulation of peripheral auditory fbers may alleviate symptoms but the underlying mechanisms are still unknown. In this work, a stochastic neuron model is used, that mimics an auditory fber afected by tinnitus, to check the efects, in terms of fring reduction, of diferent kinds of electric stimulations, i.e., continuous wave signals and white Gaussian noise. Results show that both white Gaussian noise and continuous waves at tens of kHz induce a neuronal fring reduction; however, for the same amplitude of fuctuations, Gaussian noise is more efcient than continuous waves. When contemporary applied, signal and noise exhibit a cooperative efect in retrieving neuronal fring to physiological values. Tese results are a proof of concept that a combination of signal and noise could be delivered through cochlear prosthesis for tinnitus suppression.