👂 Subjective Tinnitus Auditory Pathway Simulator

Cochlear Damage and Loss of Peripheral Auditory Input

Hair cell damage reduces the signal reaching the auditory nerve.

• Variable: Hair cell loss (placeholder metric)
• High-freq: Frequencies affected (placeholder metric)
• Gradual/acute: Onset type (placeholder metric)
• Noise, age: Common causes (placeholder metric)

Cochlear hair cell damage

Placeholder: outer hair cells damaged reduce cochlear output signal.

Reduced Afferent Signal Reaching the Auditory Brainstem

Weaker cochlear output lowers activity in brainstem nuclei.

• Reduced: Cochlear nucleus input (placeholder metric)
• Lower: Signal-to-noise (placeholder metric)
• Altered: Relay latency (placeholder metric)
• Partial: Deafferentation (placeholder metric)

Brainstem relay deafferentation

Placeholder: cochlear nucleus receives diminished afferent drive.

Compensatory Hyperactivity Along the Central Auditory Pathway

Deprived central neurons raise spontaneous firing rates.

• Elevated: Spontaneous firing (placeholder metric)
• Increased: Neural synchrony (placeholder metric)
• Reduced: Inhibition (placeholder metric)
• Multiple: Affected nuclei (placeholder metric)

Gain increase and disinhibition

Placeholder: central gain rises to compensate reduced input.

Auditory Cortex Map Reorganization Over Time

Cortical tonotopic maps shift with prolonged deprivation.

• Present: Tonotopic shift (placeholder metric)
• Time-dependent: Map plasticity (placeholder metric)
• Increased: Cross-modal input (placeholder metric)
• Cumulative: Duration effect (placeholder metric)

Cortical map plasticity

Placeholder: cortex reorganizes frequency representation zones.

Subjective Tinnitus as Phantom Auditory Perception

Brain perceives sound despite absent external stimulus.

• Phantom: Perceived sound (placeholder metric)
• ~10-15%: Prevalence (placeholder metric)
• Often persistent: Chronicity (placeholder metric)
• Variable: Distress link (placeholder metric)

Phantom percept generation

Placeholder: hyperactive cortical networks generate conscious phantom sound.

Placeholder: tinnitus reflects maladaptive central plasticity, not ear damage alone.