The functional connectivity of the auditory network is considered to be important in the development of tinnitus. We hypothesized that sound therapy, as a commonly used effective treatment for tinnitus, can modulate the functional connectivity of the auditory network. In this prospective observational study, we recruited 27 tinnitus patients who had undergone 12 weeks of sound therapy and 27 matched healthy controls. For the two groups of subjects, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was acquired both at baseline and at the 12th week. We utilized independent component analysis and seed-based functional connectivity analysis to characterize the connectivity features of the auditory network. Interaction effects between the two groups and the two scans within the auditory network were observed, which were driven by increased functional connectivity in the left primary auditory cortex (PAC) and decreased values in the secondary auditory cortex (SAC) in tinnitus patients after treatment. Increased connections between the auditory network and limbic network, as well as decreased values with the bilateral thalami, were identified. The effects were mainly driven by the functional connectivity alterations of the SAC rather than that of the PAC. Significant positive correlations between the percent improvement in the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) score and the percentage change rates of functional connectivity between the SAC and bilateral thalami were observed. Our study contributes to the understanding of the mechanism of tinnitus and effective sound therapy, providing evidence to support the theory of a gain adaptation mechanism that quantifies the recovered gating function of the thalamus in tinnitus patients.

听觉网络的功能连接被认为在耳鸣的发展中很重要。我们假设声音疗法作为耳鸣常用的有效治疗方法，可以调节听觉网络的功能连接。在这项前瞻性观察性研究中，我们招募了 27 名接受了 12 周声音治疗的耳鸣患者和 27 名匹配的健康对照。对于两组受试者，在基线和第 12 周采集静息状态功能磁共振成像。我们利用独立成分分析和基于种子的功能连接分析来表征听觉网络的连接特征。观察了两组之间的交互作用以及听觉网络内的两次扫描，这是由治疗后耳鸣患者左初级听觉皮层（PAC）的功能连接性增加和次级听觉皮层（SAC）的值降低所驱动的。确定了听觉网络和边缘网络之间的连接增加，以及与双侧丘脑的值降低。这些影响主要是由 SAC 的功能连接改变而不是 PAC 驱动的。观察到耳鸣障碍量表 (THI) 评分的改善百分比与 SAC 和双侧丘脑之间功能连接的百分比变化率之间存在显着的正相关。我们的研究有助于了解耳鸣的机制和有效的声音疗法，