Astrocytes and Tinnitus.

Summary

This review focuses on astrocytes, the brain's most abundant glial cells, as an under-appreciated contributor to tinnitus. It argues that reactive astrocytes, acting together with microglia, shape the neuroinflammatory and metabolic environment of the central auditory system after hearing loss, and reviews how astrocyte signalling could sustain the altered excitability underlying the phantom percept. It broadens the neuroinflammation account of tinnitus beyond microglia and TNF-α to the wider glial response.

Key findings

• Highlights reactive astrocytes, alongside microglia, as contributors to tinnitus-related neuroinflammation.
• Reviews astrocyte roles in regulating the metabolic and signalling environment of the central auditory system.
• Broadens the neuroinflammatory account of tinnitus beyond microglia and TNF-α to the wider glial response.