Tinnitus can arise from unstable outer hair cell oscillation in the cochlea

Evidence

Several theories have been put forward explaining the origin of tinnitus in the auditory system (Jastreboff, 1990). Tinnitus may originate from the malfunction of some neural process in the auditory system with no actual vibration. It may also originate in the cochlea, even to such an extent that the basilar membrane vibrates and the tinnitus sound can be measured in the ear canal. In this case, the functioning of the outer hair cells in the cochlea has become unstable and thus a constant oscillation is present even without an acoustic input. — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 2675

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the physiological mechanisms — neural malfunction vs. cochlear oscillation — behind a phantom sound.