Subject: Re: [AUDITORY] Responses to "listening to your tinnitus" From: PIerre DIVENYI <pdivenyi@xxxxxxxx> Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2021 22:49:28 -0700--Apple-Mail-CB42137A-E2C8-40FB-92A6-DCFC7856F4AB Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Fatima, Brian, I don=E2=80=99t think you are talking about the same thing. Brian=E2=80=99s p= roposal can=E2=80=99t be considered a varietal of mind-body training. It is s= ensory awareness of an individual acoustic object, if this description fits B= rian=E2=80=99s tinnitus. Although, as he says, it=E2=80=99s not =E2=80=9Cton= al,=E2=80=9D it has tonal components. My suggestion is to try to match the p= itch of one or several of the components and even write it down. If it is pu= lsating, identify its rhythm and, again, write it down. Since this is nothin= g else but a stimulus-less auditory object matching psychoacoustic task, it c= ould also lead to identifying its properties and its night-by-night variabi= lity. And doing this experiment would not take away your observation that aw= areness of the auditory properties of the tinnitus makes it less annoying. My two-penny thoughts inspired by 50 years in bed with psychoacoustics. Pierre Sent from my autocorrecting iPad > On Aug 19, 2021, at 21:50, Fatima Husain <husainf@xxxxxxxx> wrote: > =EF=BB=BF > Hi Brian >=20 > I will attempt to answer. What you are describing seems like the "sounds a= nd thoughts" meditation, which is one of the mindfulness-based cognitive tra= ining (MBCT) exercises, where the individual meditates on their body's sound= s & external sounds, including their tinnitus (if they have it). We conducte= d an MBCT intervention for adults with bothersome tinnitus and found that a g= reat majority were helped by an 8-week MBCT course. When we were designing t= he experiment, we were worried if this particular exercise would exacerbate s= omeone's tinnitus and we gave directions to the instructors accordingly. But= , we found that no one complained about listening to or being intensely awar= e of their tinnitus in this context. There have been several published repor= ts of MBCT being useful and if they all did the standard MBCT, then it would= include this type of meditation. Other psychology-based treatments may also= include such meditation exercises. No published report, to my knowledge, ha= s weighed in on the relative merits of different aspects of MBCT or similar p= lans.=20 >=20 > Hope this helps, > Fatima=20 >=20 > On Wed, Aug 18, 2021 at 11:57 PM Brian Gygi <bgygi@xxxxxxxx> wrote: >> Hello, I received several responses to my post on "listening to your tinn= itus" in which I described a method I had found that seemed to alleviate my t= innitus. Unfortunately, all of the posts described methods in which an acou= stic signal is present to the ear with frequencies that match (or mask) the t= innitus, which is different from what I was talking about. =20 >>=20 >> The method I was describing involved actually focusing on the tinnitus, n= ot an auditory stimulus. I can hear out some of the individual tones in my t= innitus, and I find when I do this the tinnitus seems to lessen in severity.= >>=20 >> So, does anyone know of any work that that been done in this area? =20 >>=20 >> Thanks, >> Brian Gygi >=20 >=20 > --=20 > Fatima T. Husain, Ph.D. > Professor, Dept. of Speech and Hearing Science and > The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology > Faculty Affiliate Neuroscience Program and Computational Science and Engin= eering > Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience Lab > University of Illinois > husainf@xxxxxxxx > www.acnlab.com --Apple-Mail-CB42137A-E2C8-40FB-92A6-DCFC7856F4AB Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <html><head><meta http-equiv=3D"content-type" content=3D"text/html; charset=3D= utf-8"></head><body dir=3D"auto"><div dir=3D"ltr"><meta http-equiv=3D"conten= t-type" content=3D"text/html; charset=3Dutf-8">Fatima, Brian,<div><br></div>= <div>I don=E2=80=99t think you are talking about the same thing. Brian=E2=80= =99s proposal can=E2=80=99t be considered a varietal of mind-body training. I= t is sensory awareness of an individual acoustic object, if this description= fits Brian=E2=80=99s tinnitus. Although, as he says, it=E2=80=99s not =E2=80= =9Ctonal,=E2=80=9D it has tonal components. My suggestion is to try to match= the pitch of one or several of the components and even write it down. If it= is pulsating, identify its rhythm and, again, write it down. Since this is n= othing else but a stimulus-less auditory object matching psychoacoustic task= , it could also lead to identifying its properties and its night-by-ni= ght variability. And doing this experiment would not take away your observat= ion that awareness of the auditory properties of the tinnitus makes it less a= nnoying.</div><div><br></div><div>My two-penny thoughts inspired by 50 years= in bed with psychoacoustics.</div><div>Pierre<br><br><div dir=3D"ltr">Sent f= rom my autocorrecting iPad</div><div dir=3D"ltr"><br><blockquote type=3D"cit= e">On Aug 19, 2021, at 21:50, Fatima Husain <husainf@xxxxxxxx> wrote= :<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type=3D"cite"><div dir=3D"ltr">=EF=BB= =BF<div dir=3D"ltr"><div dir=3D"ltr">Hi Brian<div><br></div><div>I will atte= mpt to answer. What you are describing seems like the "sounds and thoughts" m= editation, which is one of the mindfulness-based cognitive training (MBCT) e= xercises, where the individual meditates on their body's sounds & extern= al sounds, including their tinnitus (if they have it). We conducted an M= BCT intervention for adults with bothersome tinnitus and found that a great m= ajority were helped by an 8-week MBCT course. When we were designing the exp= eriment, we were worried if this particular exercise would exacerbate s= omeone's tinnitus and we gave directions to the instructors accordingly= . But, we found that no one complained about listening to or being intensely= aware of their tinnitus in this context. There have been several publi= shed reports of MBCT being useful and if they all did the standard MBCT, the= n it would include this type of meditation. Other psychology-based treatment= s may also include such meditation exercises. No published report, to my kno= wledge, has weighed in on the relative merits of different aspects of MBCT o= r similar plans. </div><div><br></div><div>Hope this helps,</div><div>Fa= tima </div></div><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote"><div dir=3D"ltr" class=3D= "gmail_attr">On Wed, Aug 18, 2021 at 11:57 PM Brian Gygi <<a href=3D"mail= to:bgygi@xxxxxxxx">bgygi@xxxxxxxx</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote clas= s=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rg= b(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><u></u> =20 =20 =20 <div> <div> Hello, I received several responses to my post on "listening to your tinn= itus" in which I described a method I had found that seemed to alleviate my t= innitus. Unfortunately, all of the posts described methods in which an= acoustic signal is present to the ear with frequencies that match (or mask)= the tinnitus, which is different from what I was talking about. = </div> <div> <br> </div> <div> The method I was describing involved actually focusing on the tinnitus, n= ot an auditory stimulus. I can hear out some of the individual tones i= n my tinnitus, and I find when I do this the tinnitus seems to lessen in sev= erity. </div> <div> <br> </div> <div> So, does anyone know of any work that that been done in this area? &= nbsp; </div> <div> <br> </div> <div> Thanks, </div> <div> Brian Gygi </div>=20 </div> </blockquote></div><br clear=3D"all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir=3D"ltr" c= lass=3D"gmail_signature"><div dir=3D"ltr"><div dir=3D"ltr"><div>Fatima T. Hu= sain, Ph.D.<br>Professor, Dept. of Speech and Hearing Science and</div><div>= The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology<br>Faculty Affilia= te Neuroscience Program and Computational Science and Engineering<br>Auditor= y Cognitive Neuroscience Lab<br>University of Illinois<br><a href=3D"mailto:= husainf@xxxxxxxx" target=3D"_blank">husainf@xxxxxxxx</a><br><a href=3D= "http://www.acnlab.com" target=3D"_blank">www.acnlab.com</a></div><div><br><= /div></div></div></div></div> </div></blockquote></div></div></body></html>= --Apple-Mail-CB42137A-E2C8-40FB-92A6-DCFC7856F4AB--