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Neuroinflammation and Tinnitus

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The Behavioral Neuroscience of Tinnitus

Part of the book series: Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences ((CTBN,volume 51))

Abstract

Neuroinflammation is the central nervous system’s response to: injury, infection, and abnormal neural activity. Inflammatory processes are known to mediate many diseases, and recently evidence indicates that neuroinflammation underlies hearing disorders such as presbyacusis, middle-ear disease, ototoxicity, noise-induced hearing loss, and tinnitus. This chapter provides a review of the role of neuroinflammation in the etiology and treatment of tinnitus. Specifically, our research team has demonstrated that both tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and calpain signaling pathways are involved in noise-induced tinnitus and that blocking them yielded therapeutic effects on tinnitus. Other efforts such as controlling acute inflammatory response via specialized pro-resolving mediators may help provide insight into preventing and treating tinnitus-related inflammatory processes.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the US Department of Defense (W81XWH-15-1-0028, W81XWH-15-1-0356, W81XWH-15-1-0357) and Martha Entenmann Tinnitus Research Center. The support of Richard M. Rosenfeld, M.D., and Matthew B. Hanson M.D. in tinnitus interest and efforts is appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology, State University New York-Downstate, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Abraham Shulman

  2. Department of Physiology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Weihua Wang & Shaowen Bao

  3. Department of Otolaryngology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA

    Hao Luo & Jinsheng Zhang

  4. Section of Audiology, School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Grant Searchfield

  5. Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Wayne State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Detroit, MI, USA

    Jinsheng Zhang

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  1. Abraham Shulman
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  2. Weihua Wang
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  3. Hao Luo
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  4. Shaowen Bao
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  5. Grant Searchfield
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  6. Jinsheng Zhang
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Grant D. Searchfield

  2. Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Department of Otolaryngology-Head Neck and Surgery, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA

    Jinsheng Zhang

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Shulman, A., Wang, W., Luo, H., Bao, S., Searchfield, G., Zhang, J. (2021). Neuroinflammation and Tinnitus. In: Searchfield, G.D., Zhang, J. (eds) The Behavioral Neuroscience of Tinnitus. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, vol 51. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2021_238

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