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Multi-site MRI analysis of morphometric differences in brain regions in the presence of hearing loss and tinnitus across the adult lifespan
Abraham I, Ajmera S, Zhang W, Leaver AM, Sutton BP, Peelle JE, Husain FT.. bioRxiv, 2026-03-10
Topic: Brain imaging, connectivity and assessment
The impact of age and hearing loss on the brain has garnered significant attention, as both factors have been implicated in the development of cognitive impairment or dementia. After harmonization of this multi-site brain data, our research replicated the previously reported finding of age-related decline in total cortical volume, but there was no significant effect of either hearing loss or tinnitus on total cortical volume. When a region of interest analysis was conducted, the hippocampus emerged as the only brain region that showed a direct impact of hearing loss, after accounting for variance associated with age. For the presence of tinnitus, ventral posterior cingulate gyrus showed main effects with respect to cortical volume and surface area while medial occipito-temporal gyrus and operculum of the inferior frontal gyrus showed significant main effects only with surface area. Post-hoc analysis revealed that posterior cingulate gyrus showed significantly higher volume and larger surface area in individuals with tinnitus compared to those without tinnitus. Similarly medial occipito-temporal gyrus surface area was increased whereas surface area of the inferior frontal opercular gyrus was reduced in those with tinnitus when compared to those without tinnitus. Notably, while past studies have reported that the presence of tinnitus appeared to moderate some of these effects in certain participant groups, our results suggest a more complex relationship between sensory degradation, chronic tinnitus, and brain structure in individuals across the adult lifespan. Chronic subjective tinnitus is associated with a larger volume of cingulate cortex, increased surface area in cingulate cortex and the lingual gyrus, and decreased surface area of frontal operculum compared to controls.
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APA 7th
Abraham, I., Ajmera, S., Zhang, W., Leaver, A. M., Sutton, B. P., Peelle, J. E., et al. (2026). Multi-site MRI analysis of morphometric differences in brain regions in the presence of hearing loss and tinnitus across the adult lifespan. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.03.06.710136
Vancouver
Abraham I, Ajmera S, Zhang W, Leaver AM, Sutton BP, Peelle JE, et al. Multi-site MRI analysis of morphometric differences in brain regions in the presence of hearing loss and tinnitus across the adult lifespan. bioRxiv. 2026. doi:10.64898/2026.03.06.710136.
BibTeX
@article{abraham2026-f6e523dc,
author = {Abraham, I. and Ajmera, S. and Zhang, W. and Leaver, A. M. and Sutton, B. P. and Peelle, J. E. and Husain, F. T.},
title = {{Multi-site MRI analysis of morphometric differences in brain regions in the presence of hearing loss and tinnitus across the adult lifespan}},
journal = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.64898/2026.03.06.710136},
url = {https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.03.06.710136}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- The impact of age and hearing loss on the brain has garnered significant attention, as both factors have been implicated in the development of cognitive impairment or dementia.
- After harmonization of this multi-site brain data, our research replicated the previously reported finding of age-related decline in total cortical volume, but there was no significant effect of either hearing loss or tinnitus on total cortical volume.
- When a region of interest analysis was conducted, the hippocampus emerged as the only brain region that showed a direct impact of hearing loss, after accounting for variance associated with age.
- For the presence of tinnitus, ventral posterior cingulate gyrus showed main effects with respect to cortical volume and surface area while medial occipito-temporal gyrus and operculum of the inferior frontal gyrus showed significant main effects only with surface area.
- Post-hoc analysis revealed that posterior cingulate gyrus showed significantly higher volume and larger surface area in individuals with tinnitus compared to those without tinnitus.
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Study details
- Study designpost-hoc analysis
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 16/100
Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. It scored 21 on the same rubric, but non-peer-reviewed sources are capped at 16, so it shows as 16. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 13 of the 62 points we could judge it on, which is 21 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 2 / 10 | Tier 4 — not a peer-reviewed journal (bioRxiv) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Not a journal article, so the journal's record does not count |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | Design recorded as “post-hoc analysis”, which our rubric does not rank (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 4 / 10 | Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. Hosted on a preprint server. |
| How recent | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 13 / 62 | Scored on 12 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 13 of the 62 points we could judge it on is 21 out of 100. |
| Total | 21 / 100 | Capped to 16 because this is not a peer-reviewed article. |
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