Correlation Analysis of EEG Brain Network With Modulated Acoustic Stimulation for Chronic Tinnitus Patients

The acoustic stimulation influences of the brain is still unveiled, especially from the brain network point, which can reveal how interaction is propagated and integrated between different brain zones for chronic tinnitus patients. We specifically designed a paradigm to record the electroencephalograms (EEGs) for tinnitus patients when they were treated with consecutive acoustic stimulation neuromodulation therapy for up to 75 days, using the tinnitus handicap inventory (THI) to evaluate the tinnitus severity or the acoustic stimulation treatment efficacy, and the EEG to record the brain activities every 2 weeks. Then, we used an EEG-based coherence analysis to investigate if the changes in brain network consistent with the clinical outcomes can be observed during 75-days acoustic treatment. Finally, correlation analysis was conducted to study potential relationships between network properties and tinnitus handicap inventory score change. The EEG network became significantly weaker after long-term periodic acoustic stimulation treatment, and tinnitus handicap inventory score changes or the acoustic stimulation treatment efficacy are strongly correlated with the varying brain network properties. Long-term acoustic stimulation neuromodulation intervention can improve the rehabilitation of chronic tinnitus patients, and the EEG network provides a relatively reliable and quantitative analysis approach for objective evaluation of tinnitus clinical diagnosis and treatment.