Lateral-inhibitory-network models of tinnitus

Lateral-inhibitory-networks (LINs) of neurons enhance edges and peaks in their input excitation pattern. In the case of reduced spontaneous input to a region of a LIN, the edges between the normal and abnormal spontaneous input will be enhanced in the LIN's output. In LINs within the central auditory system, regional reduction of spontaneous input may occur because of deafferentation resulting from a peripheral hearing loss. A model of auditory LINs is developed to investigate how such abnormal spontaneous edges in LIN outputs could be related to tinnitus, the phantom perception of sounds.