People who hear ringing, buzzing or crackling sounds in one or both ears are less attentive and find the music more unpleasant.
- More than 8 million French people suffer from tinnitus.
- In these patients, attention and alertness are less strong.
- They are also more disturbed by music.
In France, more than 8 million adults suffer from tinnitus, according to Health Insurance. “Its psychosocial impact is considerable: anxiety, depression, stress, irritability, concentration and sleep disorders, which has harmful effects on communication, education, professional development, mental health and quality of life “, indicated researchers from the Georges-Pompidou European Hospital, Pitié-Salpêtrière, the Brain Institute and the University of Lille.
Attention and alertness are lower in patients with tinnitus
In a recent study, called “Audicog”, French scientists wanted to examine the physiopathology of tinnitus, the socio-emotional, cognitive and psychoacoustic aspects associated with this hearing disorder. For the purposes of the work, relayed by FranceInfothey recruited nearly 300 people, half of whom perceived sounds or auditory sensations, in particular hissing, buzzing or crackling, which are not caused by external noise.
According to the results, people suffering from tinnitus are less attentive and vigilant. “If I have tinnitus, my attention will be on the tinnitus and there will no longer be enough resources to deal with what may be threatening outside. This leaves the door open to therapies that would be targeted on this specific dysfunction, we could do attentional reeducation techniques, we could reeducate by doing music therapy”, explained, to FranceInfoDoctor Alain Londero, ENT doctor at the Georges-Pompidou European Hospital.
Tinnitus: “The pleasure they previously felt from music is less significant”
The authors also found that participants affected by this hearing disorder were more bothered by music. “The pleasure they previously felt in music is less important. What patients tell us is that since they have had their tinnitus, they have had difficulty going to a concert,” said the specialist.
