Mechanism and optimisation of Acoustic Ripple Therapy (ART) for tinnitus

Approximately 15% of the population have tinnitus, with 2% of the population experiencing profound negative long-term impact. Yet, no widely applicable treatment to quieten the sound exists. The majority of the world’s tinnitus population struggle to access specialist healthcare, but have access to a smartphone, which offers exciting treatment opportunities.

In this project, the student will work on a novel type of sound therapy (Acoustic Ripple Therapy: ART) developed by the supervisory team, which they have shown has a significant lasting quieting effect on tinnitus. Importantly, this was delivered entirely online, using only methods feasible to implement in a smartphone app. The benefit was significant compared to a placebo version of the sound therapy. However, the benefits were variable, with the average benefit being modest, some people not benefitting, but a few getting a dramatic quieting of tinnitus, which some described as ‘life-changing’.

Whilst there is a theoretical principle on which it works, which is to reduce correlations in the activity patterns over time of neuronal populations representing different sound frequencies, the physiological mechanism behind ART remains to be established. In this PhD project, the student will work on better understanding basic mechanisms of quietening tinnitus through electroencephalography (EEG) recordings and analysis of neural oscillations.

The student will record the brain activity of people with and without tinnitus before, during and after ART. They will investigate how ART alters different types of brain activity, and which of these correlates best with symptomatic improvement. They will test different parameter variants of ART; those leading to the greatest changes in brain activity will then be tested in online clinical trials.

The supervisory team includes members of two internationally leading research groups in Newcastle University: one specialising in acoustic signal processing, and the other in auditory research and tinnitus neuroscience.

The ultimate aim, which will require further subsequent funding, is to package the technique as a smartphone app that will freely deliver the best available version of ART, run automated randomised trials to keep iteratively improving ART, and incorporate ART into audio content that users ordinarily listen to for pleasure, such as music. In other words, allow people to treat their tinnitus seamlessly through doing things they already do as part of their everyday life.

The project is feasible and realistic, and follows the work of a PhD student who completed both a programme of EEG studies and an online sound therapy trial. 

Funding

PhD studentships are funded by the Reece Foundation for 4 years. Funding will cover tuition fees at the UK rate only, a Research Training and Support Grant and a stipend (Year 1: £22,000, Year 2: £23,000. Year 3: £24,000. Year 4: £25,000). Applications are welcomed from students in all countries, although students from outside the UK will be required to pay full international fees. International students may be eligible for additional financial support to cover some, or all, of these fees.

Enquiries

Dr Kai Alter [Email Address Removed]

Centre for Neuroscience: [Email Address Removed]

Applications

https://www.ncl.ac.uk/research/transformative-neuroscience/studentship/