The brain may generate 'phantom' noise, giving rise to the symptoms of tinnitus, say researchers in Germany.
Tinnitus can be a chronic and very distressing condition. It involves the experience of buzzing and ringing sounds in the ear, even though there is no obvious source for the noise. Sometimes the cause is an ear infection, or wax in the ear, but sometimes there is no obvious reason for the sounds.

Doctors at the University of Tuebingen, Germany, now wonder if the symptoms of tinnitus may originate in the brain itself, rather than the ear. They looked at a group of 14 patients with intractable, chronic tinnitus, and tried the effect of blocking off activity in the areas of the brain concerned with hearing. They did this with a method called focused magnetic stimulation. Most patients experienced at least some relief when the region known as the left temporoparietal cortex was stimulated.

The researchers think this suggests that tinnitus may be like 'phantom' pain, which is often experienced by people who have had a limb amputated. The brain continues to generate false pain signals, as if they came from the absent limb. It may be that with tinnitus, the brain generates false sound signals in a similar way. This was only a small study, but it points towards a fruitful direction for further research for those suffering from tinnitus.