DOI: 10.5061/dryad.bzkh189nb
title: Data from: Objective autonomic signatures of tinnitus and sound sensitivity disorders

description: Hypersensitivity, phantom percepts, and sensory reactivity are core
 features of many neurological disorders. Direct, objective measurements of
 these features have proven difficult to identify, leaving subjective
 questionnaires as the primary means of assessing sensory disorder
 severity. Here, we studied neurotypical adults (n = 50) or adults with a
 combination of sound sensitivity and tinnitus (ringing of the ears; n =
 47) and identified a new class of objective measurement that predicted
 individual differences in the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and
 Hyperacusis Questionnaire (HQ). A neurophysiological assessment of central
 auditory gain demonstrated an elevation in participants with tinnitus and
 sound sensitivity but no association with symptom severity. Instead,
 accurate predictors of individual THI and HQ scores were identified in
 pupil dilations and facial movements elicited by emotionally evocative
 sounds. These findings highlight autonomic signatures of disrupted
 affective sound processing in persons with tinnitus and sound sensitivity
 disorders and introduce new approaches for their objective measurement.
description: # Data from: Objective autonomic signatures of tinnitus and sound
 sensitivity disorders [Access this dataset on
 Dryad](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.bzkh189nb) Submitted data were
 collected for the following study: Smith, S. S., Jahn, K. N., Sugai, J.
 A., Hancock, K. E., & Polley, D. B. (2025). Objective Autonomic
 Signatures of Tinnitus and Sound Sensitivity Disorders. ## Descriptions
 ***indiv_values.xlsx*** Each row lists study measures for each
 participant, with columns as follows: * *Group*: Grouping of study
 participant as neurotypical (i.e., did not report sound sensitivity, nor
 intermittent or chronic tinnitus; NT) or disordered hearing (based on
 clinical evaluation of chronic tinnitus or abnormal sound sensitivity;
 DH). * *Tinnitus*: Determination as to whether study participant had
 chronic tinnitus (yes/no). * *Age*: Age of study participant (years). *
 *HQ*: Score on Hyperacusis Questionnaire (integer score). * *THI*: Score
 on Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (integer score). * *AuditoryGain(nV/dB)*:
 Mean of the numerical derivative for each EEG growth function between 40
 and 65 dB SL (nV/dB). * *IADS_Valence*: Mean behavioral valence rating for
 audio clips from the International Affective Digitized Sounds (IADS)
 digital library (scale between 1 [positive valence bound] and 9 [negative
 valence bound]). * *IADS_Pupil(z-sc)*: Mean evoked pupil response for IADS
 sounds (z-score). * *IADS_SkinCond(iSCR)*: Mean integrated skin
 conductance response for IADS sounds (μs). * *IADS_Face(au)*: Mean facial
 movement in response to IADS sounds (arbitrary unit). *
 *IADS_PupilBaseline(%re_con_max)*: Mean pupil size in the baseline period
 of the IADS sounds (% fold change relative to the pupil at its most
 constricted). * *Con_max(au)*: Size of constricted pupil when the dynamic
 light stimulus was at its brightest (arbitrary unit native to Eyelink
 system). * *Light_range(au)*: Range of the pupil in response to a dynamics
 light stimulus (arbitrary unit native to Eyelink system). *
 *Digits_Behav9dB(%)*: Mean accuracy for 9 dB SNR trials on multi-talker
 digits task (%). * *Digits_Behav0dB(%)*: Mean accuracy for 0 dB SNR trials
 on multi-talker digits task (%). * *Digits_Pupil9dB(z-sc)*: Mean evoked
 pupil size on 9 dB SNR trials on multi-talker digits task (z-score). *
 *Digits_Pupil0dB(z-sc)*: Mean evoked pupil size on 0 dB SNR trials on
 multi-talker digits task (z-score). * *TinnitusPitch*: Self-reported
 tinnitus pitch. * *TinnitusSoundDescriptor*: Self-reported description of
 tinnitus sound. * *TinnitusSomatic*: Whether tinnitus could be modulated
 during at least one of the six somatic maneuvers (yes/no). Missing data is
 coded as n/a and detailed explanations are provided in the manuscript. A
 few participants had missing or incomplete behavioral data (missing HQ,
 n=2; missing valence assessment, n=1; missing digit recognition, n=1). We
 found that electroencephalography (EEG) data (n=4) and skin conductance
 recordings (n=41) were not usable on account of poor electrode contact. We
 were unable to use pupil data (IADS, n=2; Digits, n=4; Light response,
 n=11) and facial movement (n=4) due to inordinately high rates of blinking
 or failed tracking. ***valence_rank_ordered_data.mat*** Each
 participant's valence ratings were used to rank-order their
 individual physiological and behavioral responses. Data is stored in a
 3-dimensional MATLAB array (97x60x4) as followed: * *Dimension 1*: Indexes
 the 97 study participants. * *Dimension 2*: Indexes the 60 rank-ordered
 ratings, from most positive valence through to most negative. * *Dimension
 3*: Rank-ordered outcome measures where index 1 is valence rating (scale
 between 1 [positive valence bound] and 9 [negative valence bound]), index
 2 is evoked pupil response (z-score), index 3 is integrated skin
 conductance response (μs), and index 4 is facial movement (a.u.).
 ***ts.mat*** Mean and standard error values to replot manuscript figures.
 Within the structure there are five fields: *.aud_gain* (EFR growth as a
 function of sound level), *.pupil* (sound-evoked pupil dilations), *.scr*
 (sound-evoked skin conductance), *.light* (pupillary light reflex), and
 *.face* (sound-evoked facial movement). Within each field, *.x* are
 plotting values along the abscissa, *.y1* and *.y2* are mean plotting
 values along the ordinate, and *.y1_se* and *.y2_se* are the standard
 error plotting values along the ordinate. ## Sharing/Access information
 Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data: *
 [https://zenodo.org/records/15065994](https://zenodo.org/records/15065994)
 References to questionnaire instruments: * C. W. Newman, G. P. Jacobson,
 J. B. Spitzer, Development of the tinnitus handicap inventory. Arch
 Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 122, 143–148 (1996). * S. Khalfa, S. Dubal, E.
 Veuillet, F. Perez-Diaz, R. Jouvent, L. Collet, Psychometric normalization
 of a hyperacusis questionnaire. Orl 64, 436–442 (2002). ## Human subjects
 data All participants provided their written informed consent to
 participate in the study and have agreed to allow their de-identified
 health information to be shared.