Understanding how changes in the brain cause tinnitus
'This potentially groundbreaking research, while still at an early stage, could lead to future therapies...'
This is a three year PhD studentship being carried out by Joshua Gold. He is being supervised by Dr Victoria Bajo Lorenzana at the University of Oxford. The project started in October 2012 and will finish in September 2015.
Background
About 1 in 100 people experience serious problems with long-term tinnitus, a medical term for any noise that people perceive in their ears or their head in the absence of an external source. Often the condition is extremely distressing and greatly affects quality of life. There is currently no cure.
Tinnitus often occurs after a hearing loss and evidence suggests that this might be due to nerve cells in the brain becoming extra sensitive (or hyperactive) as they adjust to the loss of sound signals from the ear - just like the hum that you'd hear if you turned up the volume on a stereo. This hyperactivity seems to be linked to how the brain 'maps' different sound frequencies, particularly for sounds affected by ear damage.
Aim
The project will investigate brain 'mapping' reorganisation and changes in nerve cell activity that occur after hearing damage, which is thought to have caused tinnitus.
After identifying areas of the brain with abnormal activity, the researchers will attempt to reduce the sensation of tinnitus using a new scientific technique - called optogenetics - in which genetic and optical methods are used in combination to manipulate the activity of nerve cells.
The team will focus on the nerve cells in the reorganised parts of the brain. The technique involves putting light sensitive proteins into the nerve cells that can then be turned 'on' and 'off' with light. By turning the proteins 'on', the nerve cells should turn 'off', which should reduce the tinnitus.
Impact
The project should provide crucial insights into how tinnitus is generated in the brain, and should reveal whether optogenetic manipulation of the 'reorganised' nerve cell circuits help to reduce the sensation of tinnitus.
If the researchers are successful in reducing or even eliminating the sensation of tinnitus by using their combined light and genetics approach, this will indicate a promising avenue of further research.
Further studies would work towards finding safe and effective waysof correcting these neural circuits in humans and could lead to new treatments not only for tinnitus but also for other conditions involving abnormal activity in the brain.
原文连接：http://www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk/your-hearing/biomedical-research/projects-and-research/projects/south-east-and-anglia/understanding-how-changes-in-the-brain-cause-tinnitus-s27.aspx

本人译文。。。。。。如下（如有差错，请高手纠正）了解大脑中的变化如何引起耳鸣
“这可能是开创性的研究，虽然仍处于早期阶段，但可能会带来未来的治疗……”
这是一个由约书亚金带领的为期三年的博士奖学金项目。他在牛津大学进行，由Victoria Bajo Lorenzana 博士监督。该项目已于2012十月展开，并将在2015九月完成。
背景
约1%人的遭受着长期耳鸣严重的问题。通常情况下，这是令人非常痛苦的，并且严重影响生活质量的，可惜目前还没有方法治愈。
耳鸣常发生在听力损失后，有证据表明，这可能是由于大脑中的神经细胞变得格外敏感（或过度活跃），从而去代偿耳部失去的声音信号。就像你把音响音量调得更大后所听到的一样。这种过度活跃似乎与大脑听觉皮层接收不同频率声音的“地图”有关，特别是耳损伤影响到的相应频率。
目的
该计划将研究在听力损伤发生后，大脑“地图”的重组和神经细胞活性的变化，这被认为是导致耳鸣原因。
通过识别异常的脑区的活动，研究人员将试图用新的科学技术-光遗传学来控制神经细胞的活动，从而减少耳鸣的感觉。
该小组将集中关注在大脑重组部分的神经细胞。该技术是将光敏感蛋白植入到神经细胞，就可以通过光来控制其“开”和“关”的。把光敏蛋白“打开”，神经细胞应当会“关闭”，这样就能缓解耳