Tinnitus perception is linked to arousal dysfunction

Tinnitus, the perception of a phantom sound, is often associated with concentration difficulties that have not been characterized. In this study, the attentional and executive functioning of 200 participants (100 with chronic tinnitus and 100 controls) were assessed with the attentional network task, the sustained attention to response task with mind-wandering evaluations, the stroop task, and the trail making test. Tinnitus-related comorbidities (hearing loss, sleep quality, anxiety, and hyperacusis) were controlled. Individuals with tinnitus demonstrated diminished sensitivity to alerting signals and reduced sustained attention capacity, both of which are consistent with decreased levels of arousal. Unlike previously reported in the literature, we found no deficits in executive functioning specific to tinnitus, but an association was found with hearing loss and sleep disturbances. Overall, these findings support the hypothesis that tinnitus is associated with dysfunction within the arousal system, which is a new theoretical framework to study the underlying tinnitus-related cognitive complaints.