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Residual inhibition is a well-known phenomenon defined as a temporary reduction of tinnitus loudness after a prolonged exposure to an acoustic stimulus Recently it has been suggested that modulated (in amplitude - AM and frequency - FM) sounds are also effective in reducing the tinnitus loudness. The aim of our study was to test weather amplitude modulated white noise may be more effective in masking tinnitus and producing residual inhibition (RI) than standard, non-modulated stimuli (white noise). We tested 57 patients from two ENT centers, namely the IMERTA Clinic in Marseille (22 patients) and the ENT Clinic in Poznan (35 patients). The mean age of patients in tested population was 51.04 years (SD=16.0), and the mean duration of tinnitus 5.53 years (SD=7.71). We studied the effects of three frequencies of modulation (100% Departmenth), namely 4, 32 and 64 Hz. The minimum masking level (MML) and the minimum residual inhibition level (MRIL) have been assessed from these stimuli. The results indicate that that there is a dependency of the modulation frequency on the MRIL (the higher the frequency of AM, the lower MRIL is), which cannot be inferred from the data for the MML. On average, relatively high frequency modulated signals (64 Hz) are more efficient than unmodulated or low-frequency related signal to mask and produce residual inhibition of tinnitus. We confirm that amplitude modulation of acoustic stimuli can modulate MML and MRIL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tinnitus masking patterns have long been known to differ from those used for masking external sound. In the present study, we compared the shape of tinnitus tuning curves (TTCs) to psychophysical tuning curves (PTCs), the latter using as a target, an external sound that mimics the tinnitus characteristics. A secondary goal was to compare sound levels required to mask tinnitus to those required to mask tinnitus-mimicking sounds. The TTC, PTC, audiometric thresholds, tinnitus pitch, and level matching results of 32 tinnitus patients were analyzed. Narrowband noise maskers were used for both PTC and TTC procedures. Patients were categorized into three groups based on a combination of individual PTC-TTC results. Our findings indicate that in 41% of cases, the PTC was sharp (V shape), but the TTC showed a flat configuration, suggesting that the tinnitus-related activity in that subgroup does not behave as a regular stimulus-induced activity. In 30% of cases, V-shape PTC and TTC were found, indicating that the tinnitus-related activity may share common properties with stimulus-induced activity. For a masker centered at the tinnitus frequency, the tinnitus was more difficult to mask than the mimicking tone in 72% of patients; this was particularly true for the subset with V-shape PTCs and flat TTCs. These results may have implications for subtyping tinnitus and acoustic therapies, in particular those targeting the tinnitus frequency.

Tinnitus masking and residual inhibition (RI) are two well-known psychoacoustic measures of tinnitus. While it has long been suggested that they may provide diagnostic and prognostic information, these measures are still rarely performed in clinics, as they are too time consuming. Given this issue, the main goal of the present study was to validate a new method for assessing these measures. An acoustic sequence made of pulsed stimuli, which included a fixed stimulus duration and interstimulus interval, was applied to 68 tinnitus patients at two testing sites. First, the minimum masking level (MML) was measured by raising the stimulus intensity until the tinnitus was unheard during the stimulus presentation. Second, the level of the stimulus was further increased until the tinnitus was suppressed during the silence interval between the acoustic pulses. This level was called the minimum residual inhibition level (MRIL). The sequential measurement of MML and MRIL from the same stimulus condition offers several advantages such as time efficiency and the ability to compare results between the MRIL and MML. Our study confirms that, from this new approach, MML and MRIL can be easily and quickly obtained from a wide variety of patients displaying either normal hearing or different hearing loss configurations. Indeed, MML was obtained in all patients except one (98.5%), and some level of MRIL was found on 59 patients (86.7%). More so, this approach allows the categorization of tinnitus patients into different subgroups based on the properties of their MRIL.