Evaluation of the effect of tinnitus on listening effort

In addition to inconsistent results in previous studies evaluating listening effort in patients with tinnitus, high frequency hearing thresholds, which is one of the potential factors that may affect listening effort, were not evaluated. For this reason, the aim of this study is to consider the lack and inconsistency of the study on this subject; By ensuring that the pure tone hearing thresholds of the participants are similar at all frequencies (0.125-20 kHz), they simultaneously evaluated the listening effort in individuals with tinnitus from different angles, both with EEG, which measures over the central nervous system, and with pupillometry, which measures over the autonomic nervous system activity. To investigate the physiological basis of these results associated with tinnitus by comparing the results. Sixteen individuals from the tinnitus group and 23 individuals from the control group with normal hearing (0.125-8 kHz) were included in the study. Hearing thresholds of all participants were evaluated in the range of 0.125-20 kHz. Montreal Cognitive Assessment test, Visual Analog Scale, Tinnitus Disability Questionnaire, Tinnitus assessment tests, Turkish Matrix Test, Electroencephalography and Pupillometry were applied to the participants. EEG alpha band was obtained using parietal (P3, P4, Pz) electrodes. As a result of our study, the increase in EEG alpha band and pupil diameter was lower in the tinnitus group during the resolution phase of the auditory stimulus compared to taban çizgisi. On the other hand, the VAS score was higher in the tinnitus group. There was no statistically significant correlation between the changes in EEG alpha band and pupil diameter and TEA and MoCA. The low rate of increase in the EEG alpha band in the tinnitus group was interpreted in favor of a potential listening effort in tinnitus patients, as the VAS score was higher in the tinnitus group. However, in contradiction with our hypothesis, the decrease in pupil diameter in the tinnitus group was interpreted in favor of phatic rather than listening effort. It has been suggested that this result may be related to the fact that the PSS becomes dominant due to the distraction of the participants from tinnitus, and that pupillometry may not provide a sufficiently sensitive assessment in terms of evaluating listening effort in cases where the autonomic nervous system response is affected. Considering the potential effect of tinnitus on listening skills in individuals, the treatment/therapy protocols of clinicians may include reducing the negative perception of tinnitus as well as reducing the listening handicap that tinnitus patients may experience in daily life, especially in noisy environments. This is the first study to analyze listening effort from the perspective of EEG and pupillometry and to provide similar hearing thresholds between groups in the 0.125-20 kHz range to exclude the possible effect of hearing loss on listening effort.