This piece belongs to the series "Pitt Medcast"

Produced by Elaine Vitone

Other pieces by Elaine Vitone

Summary: This dramatic soundscape uses interviews, narration, sound effects, and music to explain the emerging neuroscience of tinnitus - a ringing, buzzing, hissing, or other noise that afflicts people who’ve been exposed to loud sounds. Tinnitus is now the number one service associated disability for veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Among them is Dan, who survived more than 500 roadside bombs. As recently as 20 years ago, Dan's affliction was thought to be a problem of the ear, but imaging studies eventually proved its source is in the brain. Thanos Tzounopoulos, an expert in brain plasticity at the University of Pittsburgh, explains how he finally uncovered the molecular mechanisms of this long-misunderstood condition: When hearing is lost, the central nervous system tries to adapt and maintain a certain level of activity, filling the void with these phantom sounds.