Importance Critical to the success of many medical therapeutics is a consideration of the
brain's miraculous ability to dynamically rewire itself anatomically and neurochemically on
the basis of incoming information. We argue that white noise exposure, a commonly
recommended therapy for patients with tinnitus, engages these plastic processes in a way
that induces maladaptive changes in the brain that degrade neurological health and
compromise cognition. Observations The pathophysiologic mechanisms commonly …