Possible link between Visual Snow Syndrome and Tinnitus

Visual Snow Syndrome (VSS) is an uncommon (estimated prevalence of around 2% in the UK) neurological condition that causes individuals to see black, white or transparent dots in their field of vision. A recently published paper by researchers at the University of Sydney (Hepschke et al 2022) explores functional changes within the brain that may be linked to inducing Visual Snow Syndrome. The research group compared brainwave activity in individuals with VSS (18 subjects in total) to a similar number of people who were unaffected by the condition. What is particularly interesting about this study is the fact that 16 of the 18 test subjects also experienced tinnitus. The study also reveals changes in brain activity that is similar to that recorded in tinnitus subjects. It is possible that therapies that serve to reduce tinnitus relates anxiety and distress may also be effective at reducing VSS severity.

Link to paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35169699/