New Treatment Approaches in Tinnitus: The Place of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation

Tinnitus is described as the perceived sensation of sound in the absence of acoustic stimulation. According to recent studies, it is one of the most common health problems disturbing patients in their daily lives. Although previous studies have focused more on the peripheral features, such as inner ear pathologies, as the possible causes of tinnitus, accumulating evidence suggests that tinnitus is related to neuronal hyperexcitability in the auditory and non-auditory brain areas. Recent neuroscience research has shown that neuromodulation tools, such as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), have promising effects in the treatment of tinnitus. However, the mechanisms of these observed positive effects are still far from being clear. The aim of this article is to review the pathophysiology of tinnitus and possible pathways of recovery by neuromodulation treatments and to summarize the results of recent randomized, controlled studies using tDCS and rTMS.