Dr. Konstantina Stankovic

And the more you think about it, the more you reinforce that circuit, just like you said.

So if you are occupied by other things or you have background noise, it lessens it.

And we already know that this is true in terms of experiments that have been conducted.

And that has been shown by electrophysiology, by imaging, even in people.

In people with tinnitus with normal audiometric thresholds, you can see hyperactivity in auditory centers in the brain.

And in particular, the area that has been imaged is the inferior colliculus.

And so we know that there is hyperactivity.

Also, most of the brain works on the principle of inhibition.

Now, what has been shown in animal studies is that loud noise, which causes tinnitus, can lead to loss of that inhibition.

So that can lead to hyperactivity.

But tinnitus can also be due to increased synchrony.

And that informs different strategies going forward.

But at this day and age, really the best treatment option for tinnitus is a cochlear implant.

However, most people don't need a cochlear implant.

And why do I say that?

Because we know that 75% of people with tinnitus who undergo cochlear implantation because they have severe or profound hearing loss get better.

And in 10% of those, it goes away altogether.

So it tells you that if you improve function at the periphery, the brain recalibrates and takes care of it.

Which is great, indeed.

And that's why we are so enthusiastic about all the research that's happening at Stanford and across the world to regenerate and restore function in the inner ear, because that then facilitates