Bad news (there is no cure): “We both found the same brain structure involved in the cortex,” he says. “Both tinnitus and chronic pain are chronic condit

Bad news (there is no cure): “We both found the same brain structure involved in the cortex,” he says. “Both tinnitus and chronic pain are chronic conditions—there is no cure.” Good news (there may be treatment): Rauschecker says, some believe there may be “an underlying brain condition that gives you tinnitus and depression.” For this reason, Rasuchecker feels that dopamine and serotonin are hot candidates for drug therapies. A study in March, citing Rauschecker’s paper on chronic pain and tinnitus, demonstrates “that the meta- cognitive ability to acknowledge and let go of arising sensory events engages a unique, self-facilitated pain modulatory system.” In others words, meditation can help reduce chronic pain, and perhaps tinnitus.