A Cross-Species Approach to Understanding the Physiological Mechanisms underlying “Hidden” Hearing Loss 

Aravind Parthasarathy, PhD

Assistant Professor

Department of Communication Science and Disorders

University of Pittsburgh

Abstract:  Hearing loss affects 13% of the population in the US and more than 60% of individuals over 70 years of age. Untreated hearing loss decreases the quality of life and has also been associated with other age-related comorbidities such as cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease. However, current clinical tests fail to capture critical aspects of real-world hearing difficulties. Specifically, 1 in 10 patients seeking help for hearing difficulties have no abnormal clinical indicators, resulting in a “hidden” hearing loss.  This talk will focus on studies aimed at diagnosing this hidden hearing loss, understanding the central consequences of hidden hearing loss on neural coding of sounds, and the effects of peripheral cochlear synapse loss on speech understanding using a translational approach which combines studies in animal models and human clinical populations. Using non-invasive, EEG-based measures as the translational bridge, we study the functional aspects of hidden hearing loss with the goal of designing the next generation of objective neurophysiological biomarkers for assessing changes in hearing due to neurodegenerative processes.

Bio:  Aravind Parthasarathy is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Science and Disorders with secondary appointments in Otolaryngology and BioEngineering. His primary interest is in understanding how the peripheral auditory system and the central auditory pathway interact in various forms of hearing loss. His research program integrates study of human clinical populations and animal models using non-invasive, EEG-like evoked potentials as the translational bridge. The overall goal is to inform diagnosis and track the benefits of interventional therapies in clinical populations with hearing loss by utilizing insights obtained from animal models with similar forms of pathology.

Dr. Parthasarathy completed his graduate training in the Department of Biological Sciences and Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University, followed by post-doctoral training in the Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck surgery at Harvard Medical School.