A multidisplinary approach to tinnitus

Tinnitus, the conscious perception of a sound in absence of any source outside or inside the body, arises when the sub-cortical or cortical auditory system tries to compensate a deficit of peripheral information, due to aberrant brain plasticity, by increasing the spontaneous rate of spikes, altering the excitatory/inhibitory balance in synapses, or modifying the tonotopic distribution of frequencies in the primary auditory cortex. It consists of a pathology of the sub-cortical and cortical parts of the auditory system triggered by a malfunctioning of the peripheral part. Therefore, a correct approach to tinnitus should involve specialists in the different parts of the auditory system. Given the multidisciplinary nature of tinnitus, the contribution of five articles authored by different specialists from the clinical and research fields are included in this special issue.