Tinnitus - an interesting find

I ran into this quite by 'accident':

Tinnitus can be eased by listening to modified music

A study of 23 patients with chronic tinnitus found that the loudness of the ringing in the patients' ears could be reduced through music therapy.

Researchers at the University of Münster, Germany, led by Christo Pantev, PhD, exposed tinnitus sufferers to their preferred music after the music was "notched," or modified, to remove certain notes that matched the of the ringing in their ears.

After 12 months of listening to the modified music, the target group reported significantly reduced tinnitus loudness. Researchers also observed reduced activity in the auditory cortex areas corresponding to the tinnitus frequency.

Maladaptive auditory cortex reorganization may contribute to tinnitus, according to the researchers. Because cortical organization can be modified by behavioral training, the researchers surmised that listening to the notched music may have re-wired parts of the over-active auditory cortex, or deprived certain auditory neurons, making them less active.

The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences