Influence of silence and attention on tinnitus perception.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to study the effect of attention and sustained silence on the emergence of auditory phantom perception in normal-hearing adults. Cross-sectional survey. While sitting in a sound booth, 66 volunteers (age range, 18-65; mean age, 37.3) performed 3 experiments of 5 minutes each, consecutively and randomly presented. Two deviated attention from auditory system (Hanoi and visual attention experiments), and 1 drove attention to the auditory system (auditory attention). After each experiment, participants were asked about their auditory and visual perception. No sound or light change was given at any moment. Of the participants, 19.7% experienced tinnitus during Hanoi, 45.5% during visual attention, and 68.2% during auditory attention experiment, with no significant differences for studied variables. Tinnitus-like perceptions may occur in a nonclinical population in a silent environment. Concomitant auditory attention plays an important role on the emergence of tinnitus.