Left: Jose Miguel Lainez, M.D., Ph.D., Berthold Langguth, M.D., Ph.D., Ana Belén Elgoyhen, Ph.D., Aage Møller, Ph.D., Sc.D., Dirk De Ridder, M.D., Ph.D. Right: Anthony T. Cacace, Ph.D., (right) most recent ATA SAC Chair, discusses a poster presentation with Emile de Kleine, Ph.D.


connected to tinnitus. All of these are examples of how our tinnitus investigators have gallantly retooled their expertise to cover multiple disciplines and to look at tinnitus from every possible angle. Longtime ATA-supporter Soraya Hoover, M.D., an ENT and independent researcher from Houston, Texas, refer- enced the role of stress in many kinds of tinnitus with emphasis on the neuroimmunoendocrine circuit.


As mentioned above, one way scientists offer their research is to summarize their studies in poster pre- sentations, which are displayed in a common room. Two posters held particular interest. Dr. Cacace described a technique using nanoparticles that could not only identify tinnitus-related neural activity in the brain but could also be used to deliver drugs to spe- cific brain areas. This could be a major breakthrough. Generally, when you take a drug, it washes over the entire system. But a drug that can be released only in the target area of tinnitus activity could be like a Zen arrow shot into precisely the right location. A poster by Astrid Lehner, Dipl.Psych., and her colleagues dem- onstrated with a pilot study how targeting repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can offer a promising strategy for enhancing treatment effects of rTMS for tinnitus. This project was funded by ATA (read the ATA-Funded Research Report on Page 12), and it was very rewarding as a Board member to see our funding decision produce such positive results.


In Pursuit of a Cure


As the conference came to an end, Dr. Langguth, Chair of TRI’s Executive Committee, offered closing


Summer 2012 | Tinnitus Today 25


thoughts. He recognized that there has been steady progress in many areas of tinnitus research but that a complete cure still eludes us. He said that when he thought about the future of tinnitus research, the following concepts came to mind that apply both to the phenomenon of tinnitus and the quest for its cure:


FREEDOM – to try new things, including the freedom to be wrong.


IMAGINATION – is as necessary in science as it is in art.


RHYTHM – the essence of music, and a fundamental aspect of brain activity.


MOTION – our bodies move, things happen inside our brains; we have to continuously engage the impon- derables in scientific research, not just reflect on them.


CONNECTIVITY – brain research has shown that neurons connect to each other and act in unison to form funda- mental impulses in the brain; likewise, investigators need to stay connected with each others’ work.


COMMUNICATION – so that investigators learn from each other.


REPETITION – so we keep trying to explore how tinnitus works and how it can be cured.


The next TRI conference will be held in Valencia, Spain, May 13-18, 2013 and we look forward to sharing innovations from the wheels that were set in motion at this year’s event.


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