If you want to know torment, speak to a sufferer of tinnitus. More than one in 10 people are walking around with persistent and uncontrollable ringing, clicking, buzzing, or hissing that only they can hear – and no reliable treatment to help them switch it off.But according to a new review published in Hearing Research, psilocybin, a compound found in magic mushrooms, could point to a new way to help turn these sounds down.As unusual as that sounds, the potential effect actually has nothing to do with the psychedelic aspect of the drug.Early evidence suggests psilocybin could actually rebalance the brain cells that process sound.Hand holding a freshly picked wild mushroom with soil on the stem. (Pablo Jeffs Munizaga - Fototrekking/Moment/Getty Images)Notably, in a 2024 experiment that's awaiting peer review, Canadian researchers gave mice a dose of psilocybin and studied the effect sound then had on the animals' brain cells.When given psilocybin, the mice didn't learn to 'tune out' familiar sounds as well as they otherwise did, suggesting a direct impact on the pathway believed to be interrupted in tinnitus."With further research, influences of psychedelics on sensory representations could be harnessed to target maladaptive sensory processing in conditions such as tinnitus," the researchers write in their pre-print paper on bioRxiv.But before we get ahead of ourselves, let's take a step back and look at what we know about tinnitus so far. While the condition remains a mystery with no direct treatments available, scientists have evidence that the problem isn't in the ears, but in the brain. Research has shown that tinnitus has important links to sleep and the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is better known for its role in regulating mood.