All Episodes

January 10, 2024 34 mins

We revisited with an old friend of the podcast: Dr. Josef Rauschecker. He was our first ever guest – go back and listen to that episode! – who came up with the famous 'gating' theory of tinnitus.

Josef’s gating theory poses that while neural ‘noise’ may arise in the ear and lower brain regions due to hearing loss, this noise is typically cancelled out further up the auditory pathway. For most people at least, but not for those experiencing tinnitus.

We speak to Josef in person at his office in Georgetown University about how his theory has evolved, his views on psychological treatments for tinnitus, why animal studies for tinnitus often fail, and how we can quickly get new tinnitus medications to market.

(00:00) Introduction

(02:23) Explaining the 'Gating' Theory

(06:55) Tinnitus Disorder

(09:31) Recent Insights from MRI Studies

(12:06) Psychological Treatments for Tinnitus

(15:49) Animal Models to Cure Tinnitus

(21:04) Speeding Up New Treatments

(27:08) Lidocaine Cures Tinnitus?

(30:18) New Funding Opportunities

Become a Tinnitus Talk Podcast Patron at https://moretinnitustalk.com for bonus content, video interviews, Ask an Expert series, and more!

Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang

Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.