From Christopher Gardner-Thorpe, Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital
Alison Motluk describes how superior canal dehiscence syndrome (SCDS), in
which the mere sound of a busy tone on the phone or a child’s squeal can give
people vertigo, is caused by a fracture in the temporal bone directly above
the upper balance canal
(This Week, 27 February, p 16).
Another little-known syndrome is “central razzle”, in which part of the
brain, the thalamus, is damaged, making loud noises produce an unpleasant
sensation. Music, the sound of water, voices and other noises can produce this
bothersome sensation, which may be caused by the inhibition of the nerve
pathways in the brain that connect the auditory cortex with other sensory
areas.
It is believed to be an unusual syndrome, but may in fact have something in
common with the unpleasant feelings which most of us get from very loud
noise.
Exeter
