Research Project

PhD in 2018

Tinnitus is a common symptom and yet a debilitating status for 1-3% of the population. Although damages in the inner ear are central for developing subjective Tinnitus, the main role is attributed to neuronal processes. Therefore it is a highly attractive condition for neuroscientific approaches. In our group we analyze lateral inhibition in the auditory cortex, evaluate a music training based on these findings for Tinnitus sufferers, and examine neuronal oscillations in Tinnitus. I am additionally interested in psychological variables in Tinnitus as interoception or attention.

PhD Committee

Prof. Dr. Thomas Ehring
Prof. Dr. Christo Pantev
Prof. Dr. Pienie Zwitserlood

Publications

Stein, A., Engell, A., Okamoto, H., Wollbrink, A., Lau, P., Wunderlich, R., Rudack, C., & Pantev, C. (2013). Modulatory Effects of Spectral Energy Contrasts on Lateral Inhibition in the Human Auditory Cortex: an MEG Study. PLoS ONE 8(12).

Pantev, C., Rudack, C., Stein, A., Wunderlich, R., Engell, A., Lau, P., Wollbrink, A., & Shaykevich, A. (2014). Münster Tinnitus Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial 2013 based on Tailor-Made Notched Music Training (TMNMT). BMC Neurology 14(40).

Stein, A.*, Engell, A.*, Junghöfer, M., Wunderlich, R., Lau, P., Wollbrink, A., Rudack, C. & Pantev, C. (2015). Inhibition-induced Plasticity in Tinnitus Patients after Repetitive Exposure to Tailor-Made Noteched Music. Clinical Neurophysiology 126(5).

Wunderlich, R., Waasem, L., Stein, A., Engell, A., Lau, P., Shaykevich, A., Rudack, C. & Pantev, C. (2015). Evaluation of iPod-based automated tinnitus pitch-matching. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology 26 (2), 205-12.

Stein, A., Engell, A., Lau, P., Wunderlich, R., Junghöfer, M., Wollbrink, A., Bruchmann, M., Rudack, C., & Pantev, C. (2015). Enhancing Inhibition-Induced Plasticity in Tinnitus – Spectral Energy Contrasts in Tailor-Made Notched Music Matter. PLoS ONE 10(5).

Lau, P., Miesen, M., Wunderlich, R., Stein, A., Engell, A., Wollbrink, A., Gerlach, A., Junghöfer, M., Ehring, T., & Pantev, C. (in press). The Relevance of Interoception in Chronic Tinnitus: Analyzing Interoceptive Accuracy and Sensibility. BioMed Research International.

Conference Contributions

Lau, P., Schlee, W., Pantev, C. (2013). Does psychotherapy change the global distress network in Tinnitus Subjects? Talk at the “Disentangling the Brain – MEG Workshop”, Trento, Italy.

Lau, P., Schlee, W., Pantev, C. (2013). Connectivity in Tinnitus Subjects and its modification through psychotherapy. Poster Presentation at the Donders Discussions, Nijmegen, Netherlands.

Lau, P., Winkels, M., Schlee, W., Pantev, C. (2014). : The temporal cortex and its role in a tinnitus network. An MEG study. Poster Presentation at the Tinnitus Research Initiative Conference in Auckland, New Zealand.

Wunderlich, R.*, Lau, P.*, Stein, A., Engell, A., Wollbrink, A., Shaykevich, A., Rudack, C., Pantev, C. (2014). Tailor-made notched music training against tinnitus in a randomized controlled clinical trial: Protocol and first data. Poster Presentation at the International Tinnitus Seminar, Berlin, Germany.

Lau, P., Wunderlich, R., Engell, A., Stein, A., Pantev, C. (2015). Cortical Oscillations in Tinnitus and its dependence on being a novice and mental comorbidities. Poster Presentation at the Psychologie und Gehirn, Frankfurt, Germany.

CV