👂 Hearing Loss & Tinnitus Co-occurrence Simulator

Cochlear Hair Cell Damage Pattern

Noise and age damage outer hair cells first, base to apex.

• OHC: Cell type first lost (outer hair cells, short placeholder)
• Base: Damage onset region (high-frequency region, placeholder)
• None: Recovery capacity (mammalian hair cells, placeholder)
• Noise/Age: Typical trigger (short placeholder cause)

Damage mechanism

Short placeholder describing outer hair cell stereocilia damage.

Frequency-Specific Hearing Loss Mapping

Cochlear place-frequency mapping determines which pitches fade.

• Base→Apex: Tonotopic axis (high to low, placeholder)
• 4 kHz: Common notch (noise-induced dip, placeholder)
• Sloping: Audiogram shape (short placeholder pattern)
• Audiogram: Mapping tool (short placeholder tool)

Frequency mapping

Short placeholder on tonotopic frequency-to-place mapping.

Reduced Input to Cochlear Neurons

Lost hair cells starve spiral ganglion neurons of input drive.

• Spiral ganglion: Affected neurons (short placeholder label)
• Reduced: Input signal (short placeholder change)
• Early: Synapse loss (hidden hearing loss, placeholder)
• Deafferentation: Downstream effect (short placeholder term)

Deafferentation

Short placeholder describing reduced afferent neural input.

Tinnitus Pitch-Matching to Hearing Loss Frequency

Central auditory gain rises, phantom tone matches loss edge.

• Edge freq.: Pitch match (short placeholder mapping)
• Central gain: Mechanism (short placeholder term)
• High overlap: Prevalence link (short placeholder stat)
• High-tone: Typical pitch (short placeholder range)

Pitch-match mechanism

Short placeholder on central compensation generating tinnitus.

Hearing Aid Amplification Benefit

Restoring audible input can reduce tinnitus salience for some.

• Partial input: Benefit type (short placeholder benefit)
• Variable: Tinnitus relief (short placeholder outcome)
• Matched loss: Best candidates (short placeholder note)
• Sound therapy: Common addition (short placeholder combo)

Amplification effect

Short placeholder on hearing aid restoring cochlear input.

Short placeholder key insight about amplification and tinnitus relief.