E-field guided repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation modulates oscillatory brain activity dynamics in tinnitus

The auditory phantom sound perception tinnitus is accompanied by maladaptive neurophysiological changes. In tinnitus treatment, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is applied to counteract these pathological alterations. Previous work showed that single-session rTMS can induce short-term tinnitus loudness suppression and modulate tinnitus-associated oscillatory brain activity....

E-field guided rTMS for tinnitus remains investigational; no actionable change to clinical practice is warranted until larger controlled trials confirm benefit.

Refining neuromodulation targeting with E-field guidance could improve consistency across rTMS tinnitus trials, a field historically hampered by variable stimulation delivery.

1. 01E-field guided rTMS was applied to tinnitus patients and its effect on oscillatory brain dynamics was measured.
2. 02The study is published in Brain Research Bulletin (DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2026.111952).
3. 03E-field guidance aims to personalise coil placement based on individual neuroanatomy.
4. 04Changes in oscillatory activity (brain rhythms) were the primary outcome of interest.
5. 05Findings add to growing evidence linking tinnitus to altered cortical oscillations.

PMID

42167498

DOI

10.1016/j.brainresbull.2026.111952.

Journal

Brain Research Bulletin

Publication type

research_article

Evidence level

4

Population

Patients with tinnitus

Intervention

E-field guided repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)