“Approaching Tinnitus Mindfully”

Ben Zimmerman, Beckman Institute Postdoctoral Fellow

Abstract

Subjective tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, is currently an incurable chronic condition with varying perceptual qualities and psychological reactions. Mindfulness-based therapies have been introduced as a treatment option to reduce the psychological severity of tinnitus. This presentation will introduce the neuroscience of tinnitus to a general audience and discuss attempts to better understand and treat tinnitus by studying neuroimaging measures collected over a mindfulness-based cognitive therapy intervention. By finding promising neuroimaging indicators of the successful treatment of tinnitus, it may be possible to improve our understanding of the condition and to construct effective interventions for its treatment.

Speaker Biography

Ben Zimmerman is a Beckman Institute Postdoctoral Fellow. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign doing research with Monica Fabiani and Gabriele Gratton on the impact of cerebrovascular health on normal cognitive aging. As a postdoctoral fellow, he has continued his work in the neuroscience of aging, continuing to focus on the brain’s vascular health and mechanisms of cognitive aging, while also expanding research to tinnitus with Fatima Husain.