{
  "id": 146573,
  "title": "How the brain's electrical signatures shift as tinnitus becomes chronic",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/04/how-the-brains-electrical-signatures-shift-as-tinnitus-becomes-chronic",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-04T21:20:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Medical Xpress",
    "slug": "medical-xpress",
    "url": "https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-brain-electrical-signatures-shift-tinnitus.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Tinnitus, a condition causing people to hear noises without external sound, can transition from an acute to a chronic state. Recent research examined how brain activity patterns change as tinnitus progresses from a new condition to a long-term one in individuals with normal hearing. Conducted by researchers led by Meng-Fang Gong, the study employed electroencephalography (EEG) to monitor electrical brain activity in three groups of participants: those with acute tinnitus, chronic tinnitus, and healthy controls. The findings revealed that acute tinnitus is characterized by heightened activity in the salience network, which detects important signals, while the executive control network responsible for attention and decision-making becomes less active. This imbalance reflects a state of hypervigilance. In contrast, chronic tinnitus demonstrates a more balanced switching between these networks, suggesting the brain adapts rather than worsens. The study also observed that chronic tinnitus is associated with more stable, low-frequency brain activity patterns, indicating a compensatory reorganization. These dynamic neural signatures in tinnitus could serve as biomarkers to differentiate between early and chronic stages, potentially guiding tailored treatment approaches.",
  "summary": "Ears are built to listen to sounds from the world around us, but for some people, the sound comes from within. Tinnitus causes people to hear ringing or other noises in one or both ears or in their heads, even when there is no actual sound outside. While tinnitus is frequently associated with hearing loss, a substantial proportion of individuals with clinically normal hearing thresholds still…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}