<p>Advancement in neuroimaging technologies is paving way to understand the human brain through various tools. Functional near infra-red spectroscopy (fNIRS) is one such tool that supersedes other neuroimaging tools owing to its ease of use and portability. Tinnitus presents an interesting condition that needs assessment of auditory cortex activity particularly in individuals without any recognizable structural etiology to have better understanding of its pathophysiology. The current study compares neuronal activity at the auditory cortex in individuals with tinnitus in comparison to healthy controls. This cross-sectional observational study evaluated the auditory cortex activity in processing of ling sound using fNIRS in 17 healthy young adults and 9 individuals with tinnitus. Analysis was done using statistical parametric mapping (SPM) for the hemodynamic response function (hrf) after estimating general linear model (GLM) coefficients. The mean age of participants was higher in tinnitus group than healthy controls (43.77 ± 13.74 years and 28.64 ± 6.01 years respectively). In healthy individuals, there was significant activation observed after sound stimuli compared to the silent state in the bilateral middle and inferior temporal gyrus, the supramarginal gyrus, as well as the precentral and postcentral gyrus. In contrast to those with tinnitus, healthy individuals had increased activation at the left middle temporal gyrus and deactivation at the region between right superior and middle temporal gyrus. There is differential recruitment of cortical regions for sound associated activity in tinnitus than healthy individuals. There is utility of fNIRS to be incorporated as a modality to assess auditory cortical activity.</p>