Neural Aspects of Tinnitus

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goals of this project are to (1) obtain behavioral estimates of tinnitus induced by salicylate and acoustic overstimulation and measure the time course and the pitch of the tinnitus in individual animals, (2) identify the changes in neural activity (single unit activity, local field potentials) in the auditory cortex of awake rats using16 channel recording electrodes and (3) determine how the time course and pattern of neural activity correlate with behavioral measures of the pitch and time course of tinnitus, (4) determine if the behavioral and neurophysiological measures of salicylate induced tinnitus and noise-induced tinnitus can be suppressed by NS1883, a potassium channel agonist that has shown promise in suppressing salicylate-induced tinnitus. Two behavioral techniques, SIPAC and GPIAS, will be used to independently confirm the time course and pitch of the tinnitus. Spontaneous and sound evoked neural activity will be assessed in awake animals using chronically implanted 16-channel electrode arrays. The project will significantly advance our understanding of the time course and pitch of noise and drug induced tinnitus in an animal model, aid in identifying the key neurophysiological changes in the auditory cortex that are associated with tinnitus, and evaluate the effectiveness of a potassium channel agonist in suppressing salicylate and noise-induced tinnitus.