From NewScientist (28 November 2020 – finally delivered today!):
Many visual-auditory neural pathways interact, both in people with and without hearing impairments, says Shoushtarian. Previous research has shown that people with tinnitus have reduced activity in the cuneus, a brain region involved in visual processing.
The people with tinnitus were asked to rate how loud and annoying their condition was. These results were correlated with the patterns of brain activity based on their [functional near-infrared spectroscopy] signals.
The researchers found that people with more severe tinnitus had higher levels of background connectivity between certain brain regions. In those with louder tinnitus, brain responses to both visual and auditory stimuli were significantly reduced. The team thinks this is because the increased background neural activity in people with tinnitus affects the brain’s ability to respond.
Which just sounds like the brain is losing efficiency in processing. I had never thought of it that way!
