Millions of people suffer from ringing in the ears or tinnitus. For many, the internal buzzing, chirping or hissing interferes with quality of life. Now German researchers have reported that tailored music therapy may be helpful. The scientists developed musical treatments that corresponded the patient’s taste in listening. They filtered out the frequencies that corresponded to the tinnitus the patient experienced. After a year of listening to these special sound tracks, most patients reported that the tinnitus noise was not as loud or bothersome.
[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, online Dec. 28, 2009
