A modern neurootologic network analysis for differentiating functional disorders in tinnitus cases
Abstract
Neurootology provides modern medicine with methods of a network analysis from the cranial senses, like for instance from the inner ear towards the central structures of the neuronal data processing and the end projections. Such methods, which we are applying, are summarized under the label Neurootometry, which contains:
1. Equilibriometry
2. Audiometry
3. Gustometry
4. Olfactometry
Since many centuries tinnitus was regarded to be an entity i.e. one single disease. Only during the second half of the 20th century the physicians had sufficient scientific data to discriminate at least 3 different kinds of tinnitus:
A.) Bruits
B.) Maskable tinnitus
C.) Non-maskable tinnitus
Due to the improvements of audiometry more and more groups of different types of tinnitus could be differentiated.
Initially it was believed that the so-called maskable tinnitus is related to local dysfunctions within the cochlea of the inner ear. However, under the influence of modern neurootological network analysis we could show that in different cases of tinnitus functional lesions could be detected along the whole pathway of the stato-acoustic projection from the inner ear through the brainstem up to the end projection in the temporal lobe of the telencephalon. Besides a typical cortical overactivity pattern could be verified by evoked potentials over the temporal lobe of tinnitus patients. Thus tinnitology unveiled cortical epiphenomena pointing towards the terminal area of the human stato-acoustic cortex, necessary for building up tinnitus.
Especially modern equilibriometric topo-diagnostics can help to foster the discrimination of the various sites of irritations in the stato-acoustic pathways, playing a role for triggering and carrying on the individual tinnitus disease.
