Temporal coding instability in tinnitus: The temporal jitter hypothesis

Abstract

Despite decades of investigation, the pathophysiological basis of tinnitus remains incompletely understood. Prevailing models have largely emphasized peripheral deafferentation, central hyperactivity, maladaptive plasticity, aberrant neural synchrony, and deficits in sensory gating. While these frameworks account for selected features of tinnitus, they do not fully explain several persistent observations, including the heterogeneity of electrophysiological findings, the occurrence of tinnitus in individuals with clinically normal audiograms, and the frequently inconsistent associations between tinnitus and conventional neural amplitude or latency measures. Against this background, the Temporal Jitter Hypothesis is proposed as a complementary conceptual framework that identifies temporal auditory coding fidelity as a potentially underrecognized dimension of tinnitus pathophysiology, particularly within a mechanistically coherent subgroup of individuals characterized by preserved audiometric thresholds yet disrupted temporal processing. The hypothesis posits that increased variability in neural spike timing and reduced phase locking across the auditory pathway may give rise to temporally unstable neural representations even in the absence of overt threshold elevation. Such instability may subsequently interact with central gain and predictive processes, increasing the likelihood that internally generated auditory activity attains perceptual salience and persistence. Rather than constituting a universal explanation, this framework is intended to complement existing models by providing a constrained and empirically testable account of tinnitus within this specific physiological context. By shifting the explanatory emphasis from neural response magnitude toward temporal precision, the Temporal Jitter Hypothesis integrates behavioral, electrophysiological, and computational evidence while establishing a structured foundation for future experimental and translational research.