The sound of stress: Blunted cortisol reactivity to psychosocial stress in tinnitus sufferers

Clinical observations suggest that tinnitus is modulated by stress. However, there is little empirical data to support the link between stress and tinnitus. In this study, we measured the stress hormone cortisol to examine the reactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in tinnitus participants as well as in healthy controls without tinnitus. Eighteen participants with tinnitus and 18 controls without tinnitus were exposed to the Trier Social Stress Task and cortisol sampling and subjective ratings were obtained at regular intervals. Tinnitus participants displayed a blunted cortisol response to psychosocial stress, in comparison with healthy controls who had a typical cortisol release about 30 min after the beginning of the experiment. The blunted cortisol response displayed by the tinnitus participants suggests that they have an anomaly along the HPA axis. Their cortisol response is similar to that found in other bodily stress-related diseases and thus suggests that tinnitus is related to stress. However, tinnitus intensity might not be modulated by stress in a concurrent manner.