A study led by Craig Markowitz of the University of Minnesota sought to target deep auditory brain structures using synchronized auditory and touch sensory inputs. This Multimodal Synchronization Therapy (they call it mSync) was found to reduce activity in the Inferior Colliculus (IC) and Primary Auditory Cortex (A1). This is utilizing the sensory connections from head and upper body that connect to the auditory system for processing, likely helping to filter sounds from eating and adjust for changes in external ear position. Although this study focuses on processing centers far up the auditory chain, such therapy feasibly could work in the cochlear nucleus as well. Touch sensory signals are sent to the granule cells of the cochlear nucleus, where the suspected cochlear pain receptors are routed.
The paper is free to view,
Investigating a new neuromodulation treatment for brain disorders using synchronized activation of multimodal pathways
Markovitz CD, Smith BT, Gloeckner CD, Lim H
March 2015
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4372796/pdf/srep09462.pdf