Familiarity with music affects tinnitus but not emotions.

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the effects of familiar and unfamiliar music on tinnitus and emotions, and to examine if music which produces a positive emotional response will reduce tinnitus more. Introduction: Tinnitus is a common oto-neurological complaint; its presentation and response to interventions are heterogeneous and complex. Music can induce emotions and can modulate similar brain regions which are activated by stress and tinnitus. There has been a considerable amount of research on pleasant and unpleasant music effects on tinnitus, but research on the effects of familiar and unfamiliar music on tinnitus and emotions are required. Different factors, such as attention, memory, and emotions can impact the ability of music to provide tinnitus relief. In order to create the most appropriate music intervention for tinnitus and allow for more individualised interventions, this study will investigate the effects of music familiarity on tinnitus perception. Methods: Twenty participants, eleven males and nine females, took part in the study. Familiar piece (Spring by Vivaldi) was administered for ten minutes using earphones and a laptop in a sound booth room. Then after a 5 to 15-minute break, participants were administered the unfamiliar piece (Maru Bihag by Ravi Shankar) for ten minutes. Half of the participants heard the familiar music first, and the other half heard the unfamiliar music first. The participants themselves set the volume of the music pieces. Before the sessions, the Tinnitus Functional Index (TFI), Tinnitus Sample Case History Questionnaire (TSCHQ) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Score (HADS) forms were completed by the participants. After the music pieces were played, emotions, tinnitus perception and music components were measured using questionnaires. At the end of the session, subjective feedback was asked to aobtain information directly from the participants as to their thoughts. Results: Tinnitus loudness was significantly reduced before and after the Spring music, whereas there was no significant difference before and after the Maru Bihag piece for tinnitus loudness. These results were consistent with previous findings which show that familiar music does help with tinnitus loudness and relief. However, no significant differences were found in tinnitus annoyance and mood for the Spring and Maru Bihag pieces. These results were inconsistent with previous findings which have found that familiar music reduces tinnitus annoyance and has an emotional effect. From the interview questions, there were seven distinct themes: familiarity, predictability, enjoyment, irritability, choice of music, sounds and additional comments. According to the participants, the Spring piece was more familiar and predictable, and the Maru Bihag was unpredictable but irritating. Conclusion: Music based sound therapy for tinnitus treatment should be considered as part of treatment for tinnitus sufferers in the clinic. However, more research is required to discover the appropriate parameters required for a well-formed music tinnitus intervention. Individual preferences in sounds used appear to be an essential contributor to, at least, short-term benefit.