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研究生: 葉愛
Ye, Ai
論文名稱: 聲音刺激結合經皮耳廓迷走神經電刺激對耳鳴之影響以腦電圖連結性分析來探討
Investigating the Effects of Sound Stimulation Combined with Transauricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Tinnitus by EEG Functional Connectivity
指導教授: 林宙晴
Lin, Chou-Ching K.
學位類別: 碩士
Master
系所名稱: 工學院 - 生物醫學工程學系
Department of BioMedical Engineering
論文出版年: 2026
畢業學年度: 114
語文別: 英文
論文頁數: 84
中文關鍵詞: 耳鳴經皮耳廓迷走神經電刺激聲音刺激腦電圖腦網路
外文關鍵詞: Tinnitus, transauricular vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS), sound stimulation, electroencephalography (EEG), brain network
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  • 本研究結合聲音刺激與經皮耳廓迷走神經電刺激(tVNS),期望減輕患者的耳鳴症狀。研究設計為隨機、單盲、安慰劑對照試驗,招募 15 名主觀性耳鳴患者,並進行為期三週的介入。在治療前後,受試者接受多面向的評估,包括耳鳴聲學測量、耳鳴障礙量表,以及腦電圖檢測。腦電圖分析聚焦於三項指標:相干性(coherence)、相位遲滯指數(Phase Lag Index, PLI)以及相位振幅耦合(Phase-Amplitude Coupling, PAC),以探討治療前後腦網路同步性與跨頻交互作用之變化。結果顯示,耳鳴音頻、音量與 THI 分數均未達統計顯著改變,但基準期耳鳴音量較高的受試者,於治療後呈現明顯的音量下降趨勢。腦電圖方面,實驗組於全域與額顳葉區域皆出現 gamma 波段 coherence 顯著上升,安慰劑組則無此現象,PLI 與 PAC 未見對應變化。綜上所述,此療法可能有助改善耳鳴音量並促進 gamma 波段腦網路同步性,惟仍需更大樣本與更長療程加以驗證;coherence 與 PLI 呈現的分離現象,也凸顯兩者為互補指標,可供未來研究參考。

    This study combined sound stimulation with transauricular vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) to alleviate tinnitus symptoms. The study was a randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled trial enrolling 15 patients with subjective tinnitus for a three-week intervention. Pre- and post-treatment assessments included tinnitus acoustic measures, the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), and EEG-derived coherence, Phase Lag Index (PLI), and Phase-Amplitude Coupling (PAC). Tinnitus pitch, loudness, and THI scores did not reach statistical significance; however, participants with higher baseline loudness exhibited a downward trend after treatment. The experimental group also showed a significant increase in gamma-band coherence not observed in the sham group, with no corresponding changes in PLI or PAC. These findings suggest this intervention may improve tinnitus loudness and promote gamma-band brain network synchrony, though larger samples and longer treatment durations are needed for validation.

    中文摘要 i Abstract ii 誌謝 iii Contents iv List of Tables vii List of Figures viii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Overview of Tinnitus 1 1.2 Pathophysiological Mechanisms of Tinnitus 3 1.3 Sound Therapy 5 1.4 Transauricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation (tVNS) 6 1.4.1 Physiological Mechanisms and Clinical Applications 6 1.4.2 Stimulation Sites 8 1.4.3 Stimulation Parameters 11 1.5 Tinnitus-Related Electroencephalography (EEG) Research 12 1.5.1 Coherence 12 1.5.2 Phase Lag Index (PLI) 14 1.5.3 Phase-Amplitude Coupling (PAC) 15 1.6 Research Motivation and Objectives 16 2 Materials and Methods 19 2.1 Experimental Setup 19 2.1.1 Subjects 19 2.1.2 Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria 19 2.1.3 Experimental Design 21 2.1.4 Sound Stimulation Protocol 22 2.1.5 tVNS Protocol 25 2.2 Data Acquisition and Analysis 26 2.2.1 Tinnitus matching 26 2.2.2 Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) 27 2.2.3 EEG Analysis 27 2.3 Statistical Analysis 35 3 Results 36 3.1 Participant Demographics and Tinnitus Characteristics 36 3.2 Within-Group and Between-Group Therapeutic Effects on Tinnitus 38 3.2.1 Tinnitus pitch and tinnitus loudness 38 3.2.2 Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) 39 3.2.3 Power spectral density (PSD) 40 3.2.4 Coherence 41 3.2.5 Phase Lag Index (PLI) 42 3.2.6 Phase-Amplitude Coupling (PAC) 43 4 Discussion 45 4.1 Clinical Outcomes 45 4.2 Gamma Band Coherence Increase in the Experimental Group 46 4.3 Dissociation Between Coherence and PLI 47 4.4 Unexpected PAC Increase in the Sham Group 49 4.5 Limitations and Future Directions 50 5 Conclusions 52 5.1 Conclusions 52 References 54 Appendix A: Supplementary Figures 63 Appendix B: Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) Questionnaire 71

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