Feasibility study of a game integrating assessment and therapy of tinnitus

BACKGROUND Tinnitus, head and ear noise, is due to maladaptive plastic changes in auditory and associated neural networks. Tinnitus has been traditionally managed through the use of sound to passively mask or facilitate habituation to tinnitus, a process that may take 6-12 months. NEW METHOD A game-based perceptual training method, requiring localisation and selective attention to sounds, was developed and customised to the individual's tinnitus perception. Eight participants tested the games usability at home. RESULTS Each participant successfully completed 30 min of training, for 20 days, along with daily psychoacoustic assessment of tinnitus pitch and loudness. The training period and intensity of training appears sufficient to reduce tinnitus handicap. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S) The training approach used may be a viable alternative to frequency discrimination based training for treating tinnitus (Hoare et al., 2014) and a useful tool in exploring learning mechanisms in the auditory system. CONCLUSIONS Integration of tinnitus assessment with therapy in a game is feasible, and the method(s) warrant further investigation.