REVIEW article
Front. Neurosci.
Sec. Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1620894
Neuroplasticity and Tinnitus: The Role of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in Pathogenesis and Treatment
Provisionally accepted
- 1Clinical Research Unit, GUNA S.p.a, Milan, Italy
- 2University of Milan, Milan, Italy
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Subjective tinnitus is defined as the perception of sound in the absence of an external acoustic source, characterized by the phantom and persistent experience of noise or indistinct, internally generated nonverbal tones. The prevalence of chronic tinnitus is estimated to range from 5% to 42% of the global population. As a significant individual and societal issue, preclinical and clinical studies have been conducted to investigate this condition and explore potential therapeutic approaches. However, a comprehensive understanding of tinnitus and a definitive treatment remain elusive. In most cases, tinnitus arises from acquired and sustained hearing loss. However, the precise mechanisms and neuronal network models responsible for the perceptual generation and persistence of tinnitus are not yet fully understood. Animal studies have demonstrated that tinnitus is associated with synaptic plasticity dysfunction in multiple brain regions, including the auditory and limbic systems. Attention has been devoted to the contribution of inflammatory cytokines and deregulated levels of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) to the pathogenesis of tinnitus. This narrative review aims to elucidate the functional structures and biological mechanisms underlying tinnitus and propose alternative novel therapeutic approaches.
Keywords: Tinnitus, BDNF, inflammatory cytokines, synaptic plasticity, low-dose medicine were "Tinnitus", and "Central auditory system", "Limbic System", "Inflammatory cytokines"
Received: 30 Apr 2025; Accepted: 13 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Miranda, Castiglioni and Maier. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Sara Castiglioni, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
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