TIN-ACT — Research School for TINnitus Assessment, Causes and Treatments

Results in brief

Research School for TINnitus Assessment, Causes and Treatments

TIN-ACT is a European consortium that investigates tinnitus (“ringing in the ears”). Tinnitus is a very common and potentially devastating condition. People with tinnitus continuously hear a penetrating phantom sound without an acoustic source producing this sound. An estimated 50.8 million EU citizens have tinnitus, of whom 5.1 million are severely bothered by it. Chronic tinnitus can be incredibly debilitating, leading to difficulty concentrating, lack of sleep, anxiety, and depression. Even mild forms of tinnitus reduce productivity due to difficulty hearing and concentrating at work, while also reducing the ability to relax and rest during leisure time. The individual cost of tinnitus is between €2000 and €6200 per year (depending on the severity of the tinnitus), resulting in the total costs related to tinnitus exceeding €140 billion per year in the European Union alone. The aim of the TIN-AT network is to understand the basic neural mechanisms of tinnitus, to improve the methods to measure tinnitus and ultimately apply this knowledge to improve the treatment of tinnitus. The TIN-ACT network unites world-leading academic groups, research-intensive industrial partners, patient organizations and excellent young researchers. The goal of the network is to provide robust multidisciplinary research and a training-oriented environment that is necessary to overcome the roadblocks that hamper the development of adequate tinnitus treatments.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Tinnitus (“ringing in the ears”) is a very common and potentially devastating condition. People with tinnitus, continuously hear a penetrating phantom sound in absence of actual sound. An estimated 50.8 million EU citizens hear tinnitus, of which 5.1 million are severely bothered by it. Tinnitus can totally disrupt normal societal participation. Hence, tinnitus leads to enormous societal costs (€140 billion per year in Europa), mainly due to loss of productivity. Since tinnitus primary occurs at advanced age (>50 years), it is a severe challenge to the European ambition to continued inclusion of the aging population in the work force. To date, the research into tinnitus has progressed almost nowhere in the development of effective and reliable treatments for tinnitus. The applicants of the current proposal are convinced that in order to cure tinnitus, we need researchers that can bridge the gap between basic fundamental research, applied clinical research and product development. The major aim of the proposal is to train 15 future scientists who understand how basic neural mechanisms of tinnitus can be studied in animal models and human tinnitus patients, and how complementary research techniques can be used towards curing tinnitus. The central hypothesis of TIN-ACT is that reduced peripheral auditory input (via hearing loss) causes pathological changes centrally in the brain that manifest as the perception of tinnitus. In a balanced consortium, the research is organized in three scientific work packages that study how these pathological changes can be assessed, what causes them, and how they can be treated. A comprehensive training program provides specialized training by research, complementary skills and soft skills (including entrepreneurship). We will train 15 early stage researchers (ESRs) towards an excellent understanding of tinnitus assessment, causes and treatments, and with job perspectives both in the academic and non-academic sectors.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

ACADEMISCH ZIEKENHUIS GRONINGEN · GroningenCoordinatorNetherlands
CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS · ParisFrance
CHARITE - UNIVERSITAETSMEDIZIN BERLIN · BerlinGermany
COCHLEAR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT LIMITED · Addlestone SurreyUnited Kingdom
DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET · Kongens LyngbyDenmark
EUROGRANT GMBH · DresdenGermany
EUROPEAN FEDERATION OF HARD OF HEARING PEOPLE · Loon op ZandNetherlands
EUROPEAN FEDERATION OF TINNITUS-ASSOCIATIONS (EUTI) E.V. · WuppertalGermany
HERTZ BRIGITTE · AmstelveenNetherlands
OTICON A/S · SmorumDenmark
Siemens Healthineers BV · DEN HAAGUnknown Region
THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM · NottinghamUnited Kingdom
Tinnitus Hub Ltd · HemsworthUnited Kingdom
UNIVERSITATSKLINIKUM ERLANGEN · ErlangenGermany
WIDEX AS · LyngeDenmark

TIN-ACT · Research School for TINnitus Assessment, Causes and Treatments

Results in brief

Research School for TINnitus Assessment, Causes and Treatments

Project objective

Participants

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