Several studies have demonstrated the neural correlates of chronic tinnitus. However, we still do not understand what happens in the acute phase. Past studies have established Zwicker tone (ZT) illusions as a good human model for acute tinnitus. ZT illusions are perceived following the presentation of a notched noise stimulus, that is, broadband noise with a narrow band‐stop filter (notch). In the current study, we compared the neural correlates of the reliable perception of a ZT illusion to that which is not. We observed changes in evoked and total theta power in wide‐spread regions of the brain particularly in the temporal‐parietal junction, pregenual anterior cingulate cortex/ventromedial prefrontal cortex (pgACC/vmPFC), parahippocampus during perception of the ZT illusion. Furthermore, we observe that increased theta power significantly predicts a gradual positive change in the intensity of the ZT illusion. Such changes may suggest a malfunction of the sensory gating system that enables habituation to redundant stimuli and suppresses hyperactivity. It could also suggest a successful retrieval of the memory of the missing frequencies, resulting in their conscious perception indicating the role of higher‐order processing in the mechanism of action of ZT illusions. To establish a more concrete relationship between ZT illusion and chronic tinnitus, future longitudinal studies following up a much larger sample of participants who reliably perceive a ZT illusion to see if they develop tinnitus at a later stage is essential. This could inform us if the ZT illusion may be a precursor to chronic tinnitus.

中文翻译：

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研究间歇性诱发的听觉幻觉的大脑功能变化及其与慢性耳鸣的相关性。

几项研究已经证明了慢性耳鸣的神经相关性。然而，我们仍然不明白在急性期会发生什么。过去的研究已将 Zwicker 音调 (ZT) 幻觉确立为急性耳鸣的良好人体模型。ZT 错觉在呈现陷波噪声刺激后被感知，即具有窄带阻滤波器（陷波）的宽带噪声。在当前的研究中，我们比较了 ZT 错觉的可靠感知与不是的神经关联。我们观察到大脑广泛分布区域的诱发和总 theta 功率的变化，特别是在颞顶交界处、前扣带回皮质/腹内侧前额叶皮层 (pgACC/vmPFC)、海马旁区在感知 ZT 错觉期间。此外，我们观察到，增加的 theta 功率显着预测了 ZT 错觉强度的逐渐正向变化。这种变化可能表明感觉门控系统出现故障，该系统使习惯于多余的刺激并抑制多动症。它还可能表明对缺失频率的记忆的成功检索，导致他们有意识地感知表明高阶处理在 ZT 错觉的作用机制中的作用。为了在 ZT 错觉和慢性耳鸣之间建立更具体的关系，未来的纵向研究对更多可靠地感知 ZT 错觉的参与者样本进行跟踪，以确定他们是否在后期发展为耳鸣是必不可少的。这可以告诉我们 ZT 错觉是否可能是慢性耳鸣的前兆。