Neuromodulatory Treatment for Dizziness and Chronic Neurological Dysfunction in an Elderly Patient Using Radio Electric Asymmetric Conveyer (REAC) Neuro Psycho Physical Optimization (NPPO) Gamma Brain Wave Optimization (BWO-G): A Case Report.

An 88-year-old woman presented with a longstanding history of dizziness, tremors, and progressive mental and physical decline, significantly impairing her mobility and autonomy. Recently discharged from an ICU, the patient required extensive support for daily activities. Diagnostic evaluations, including EEG and analysis, revealed irregular frequency peaks and altered cortical activity, particularly in the frontal and prefrontal regions.

White noise effect on listening effort among patients with chronic tinnitus and normal hearing thresholds.

Objective: This study investigated the effects of WN on LE in subjects with chronic tinnitus and normal hearing thresholds. The study was a prospective, non-randomized, before-and-after, intra-participant intervention.

Methods: Twenty-five subjects performed the following tests: conventional and high-frequency audiometry, acuphenometry, screening questionnaires for depression and anxiety symptoms, Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), Montreal Cognitive Assessment, and high WM test from the Working Memory Assessment Battery, Federal University of Minas Gerais (WMAB) as the LE measure in two conditions: No Added Noise (NAN) and with Added Noise (AN).

GJB2 c.35del variant up-regulates GJA1 gene expression and affects differentiation of human stem cells.

Pathogenic DNA alterations in GJB2 are present in nearly half of non-syndromic hearing loss cases with autosomal recessive inheritance. The most frequent variant in GJB2 causing non-syndromic hearing loss is the frameshifting c.35del.

Generation of four induced pluripotent stem cells lines from PBMC of the DFNA58 family members: Two hearing-impaired duplication carriers (USPi006-A e USPi007-A) and two normal-hearing noncarriers (USPi004-A and USPi005-A).

The DFNA58 locus contains a genomic duplication involving three protein-coding genes (CNRIP1, PLEK, and PPP3R1's exon 1) and other uncharacterized lncRNA genes (LOC101927723, LOC107985892 and LOC102724389). To clarify the role of these genes in hearing and precisely determine their role in hearing loss, four iPSC lines were generated from two carriers and two noncarriers of the duplication.

Translation, Cultural Adaptation and Validation to Brazilian Portuguese of the Tinnitus Functional Index Questionnaire.

 Tinnitus affects a large portion of the world's population. There are several questionnaires being used for the evaluation of the severity of tinnitus and its impact in quality of life; however, they do not measure treatment-related changes. So, a new self-reported questionnaire was developed, the Tinnitus Functional Index (TFI), which has been translated into several languages.

Translation and validation of the Tinnitus Primary Function Questionnaire into Brazilian Portuguese.

Objective: In this study, the Tinnitus Primary Function Questionnaire was translated, culturally adapted and validated for Brazilian Portuguese.

Methods: This study was carried out in two stages. First, a prospective study of translation and cultural adaptation was carried out with a group of 20 patients.

Hearing aid effectiveness on patients with chronic tinnitus and associated hearing loss.

Objective: Our study aimed to measure the effectiveness of using HA in reducing the disturbance caused by tinnitus.

Methods: Study was designed as a within-subjects clinical trial. Nineteen patients with chronic tinnitus and untreated sensorineural hearing loss were under counseling, HA fitting and 6 months follow-up.

Effectiveness of Dry Needling in Bothersome Chronic Tinnitus in Patients with Myofascial Trigger Points.

 Therapeutic dry needling (DN) is effective in reducing the discomfort of chronic somatosensory tinnitus in patients with myofascial trigger points (MTP)s.  To evaluate the efficacy of DN in chronic somatosensory tinnitus discomfort in patients with MTP.  Placebo-controlled paired trial that included 16 patients with a diagnosis of somatosensory chronic tinnitus and with the presence of at least one active or latent MTP.

Evaluating the efficacy of hearing aids for tinnitus therapy - A Positron emission tomography study.

Brain imaging studies have revealed neural changes in chronic tinnitus patients that are not restricted to auditory brain areas; rather, the engagement of limbic system structures, attention and memory networks are has been noted. Hearing aids (HA) provide compensation for comorbid hearing loss and may decrease tinnitus-related perception and annoyance. Using resting state positron emission tomography our goal was to analyze metabolic and functional brain changes after six months of effective HA use by patients with chronic tinnitus and associated sensorineural hearing loss.

Molecular and genetic characterization of a large Brazilian cohort presenting hearing loss.

Hearing loss is one of the most common sensory defects, affecting 5.5% of the worldwide population and significantly impacting health and social life. It is mainly attributed to genetic causes, but their relative contribution reflects the geographical region's socio-economic development.

Cochlea cell-specific marker expression upon in vitro Hes1 knockdown.

NOTCH pathway proteins, including the transcriptional factor HES1, play crucial roles in the development of the inner ear by means of the lateral inhibition mechanism, in which supporting cells have their phenotype preserved while they are prevented from becoming hair cells. Genetic manipulation of this pathway has been demonstrated to increase hair cell number. The present study aimed to investigate gene expression effects in hair cells and supporting cells after Hes1-shRNA lentivirus transduction in organotypic cultures of the organ of Corti from postnatal-day-3 mice.

NCOA3 identified as a new candidate to explain autosomal dominant progressive hearing loss.

Hearing loss is a frequent sensory impairment in humans and genetic factors account for an elevated fraction of the cases. We have investigated a large family of five generations, with 15 reported individuals presenting non-syndromic, sensorineural, bilateral and progressive hearing loss, segregating as an autosomal dominant condition. Linkage analysis, using SNP-array and selected microsatellites, identified a region of near 13 cM in chromosome 20 as the best candidate to harbour the causative mutation.

A rare genomic duplication in 2p14 underlies autosomal dominant hearing loss DFNA58.

Here we define a ~200 Kb genomic duplication in 2p14 as the genetic signature that segregates with postlingual progressive sensorineural autosomal dominant hearing loss (HL) in 20 affected individuals from the DFNA58 family, first reported in 2009. The duplication includes two entire genes, PLEK and CNRIP1, and the first exon of PPP3R1 (protein coding), in addition to four uncharacterized long non-coding (lnc) RNA genes and part of a novel protein-coding gene. Quantitative analysis of mRNA expression in blood samples revealed selective overexpression of CNRIP1 and of two lncRNA genes (LOC107985892 and LOC102724389) in all affected members tested, but not in unaffected ones.

Neurotology: definitions and evidence-based therapies - Results of the I Brazilian Forum of Neurotology.

Introduction: Neurotology is a rapidly expanding field of knowledge. The study of the vestibular system has advanced so much that even basic definitions, such as the meaning of vestibular symptoms, have only recently been standardized.

Objective: To present a review of the main subjects of neurotology, including concepts, diagnosis and treatment of Neurotology, defining current scientific evidence to facilitate decision-making and to point out the most evidence-lacking areas to stimulate further new research.

Stem-cell therapy for hearing loss: are we there yet?

Introduction: Mammalian hair cells and auditory neurons do not show regenerative capacity. Hence, damage to these cell types is permanent and leads to hearing loss. However, there is no treatment that re-establishes auditory function.

Caloric test and video head impulse test sensitivity as vestibular impairment predictors before cochlear implant surgery.

Objectives: Currently, cochlear implant procedures are becoming increasingly broad and have greatly expanded. Bilateral cochlear implants and cochlear implants are more frequently applied in children. Our hypothesis is that the video head impulse test may be more sensitive than the caloric test in detecting abnormal vestibular function before cochlear implant surgery.

Video head impulse test relevance in the early postoperative period after cochlear implantation.

Background: Cochlear implantation (CI) is the gold standard therapy for profound or severe sensorineural hearing loss. It is a safe surgical procedure but, because of the proximity of the cochlea and vestibule, postoperative vestibular disorder may occur. Our hypothesis is that the video head impulse test (vHIT) may be a good tool to achieve a topographic diagnosis of dizziness in the early postoperative period after CI.

P3 Cognitive Potential in Cochlear Implant Users.

 The P3 cognitive evoked potential is recorded when a subject correctly identifies, evaluates and processes two different auditory stimuli.  to evaluate the latency and amplitude of the P3 evoked potential in 26 cochlear implant users with post-lingual deafness with good or poor speech recognition scores as compared with normal hearing subjects matched for age and educational level.  In this prospective cohort study, auditory cortical responses were recorded from 26 post-lingual deaf adult cochlear implant users (19 with good and 7 with poor speech recognition scores) and 26 control subjects.

Effect of Fractal Tones on the Improvement of Tinnitus Handicap Inventory Functional Scores among Chronic Tinnitus Patients: An Open-label Pilot Study.

 Music-based sound therapies become recently a trend in the treatment of tinnitus. Few publications have studied the therapeutic use of fractal tones to treat chronic tinnitus.  The aim of this study was to determine the benefits of using fractal tones as a unique sound therapy for chronic tinnitus sufferers.

Diagnostic Criteria for Somatosensory Tinnitus: A Delphi Process and Face-to-Face Meeting to Establish Consensus.

Since somatic or somatosensory tinnitus (ST) was first described as a subtype of subjective tinnitus, where altered somatosensory afference from the cervical spine or temporomandibular area causes or changes a patient's tinnitus perception, several studies in humans and animals have provided a neurophysiological explanation for this type of tinnitus. Due to a lack of unambiguous clinical tests, many authors and clinicians use their own criteria for diagnosing ST. This resulted in large differences in prevalence figures in different studies and limits the comparison of clinical trials on ST treatment.

A Cell Junctional Protein Network Associated with Connexin-26.

mutations are the leading cause of non-syndromic inherited hearing loss. encodes connexin-26 (CX26), which is a connexin (CX) family protein expressed in cochlea, skin, liver, and brain, displaying short cytoplasmic N-termini and C-termini. We searched for CX26 C-terminus binding partners by affinity capture and identified 12 unique proteins associated with cell junctions or cytoskeleton (CGN, DAAM1, FLNB, GAPDH, HOMER2, MAP7, MAPRE2 (EB2), JUP, PTK2B, RAI14, TJP1, and VCL) by using mass spectrometry.

Tinnitus and sound intolerance: evidence and experience of a Brazilian group.

Introduction: Tinnitus and sound intolerance are frequent and subjective complaints that may have an impact on a patient's quality of life.

Objective: To present a review of the salient points including concepts, pathophysiology, diagnosis and approach of the patient with tinnitus and sensitivity to sounds.

Methods: Literature review with bibliographic survey in LILACS, SciELO, Pubmed and MEDLINE database.

Evidence of progenitor cells in the adult human cochlea: sphere formation and identification of ABCG2.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to search for evidence of stem or progenitor cells in the adult human cochlea by testing for sphere formation capacity and the presence of the stem cell marker ABCG2.

Methods: Cochleas removed from patients undergoing vestibular schwannoma resection (n=2) and from brain-dead organ donors (n=4) were dissociated for either flow cytometry analysis for the stem cell marker ABCG2 or a sphere formation assay that is widely used to test the sphere-forming capacity of cells from mouse inner ear tissue.

Results: Spheres were identified after 2-5 days in vitro, and the stem cell marker ABCG2 was detected using flow cytometric analysis after cochlear dissociation.

Exome Sequencing Identifies a Novel Nonsense Mutation of MYO6 as the Cause of Deafness in a Brazilian Family.

We investigated 313 unrelated subjects who presented with hearing loss to identify the novel genetic causes of this condition in Brazil. Causative GJB2/GJB6 mutations were found in 12.7% of the patients.