Patrick Parker, Ph.D.
The Research
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Emergence of tonotopically organized spontaneous activity in the brain after genetic disruption of MET channel
Secondary disorders develop alongside hearing loss, such as the perception of phantom sounds (tinnitus) and a hypersensitivity to sound (hyperacusis). These disorders have no curative treatment, in part due to our poor understanding of the underlying neurobiology. Using experimental models of hearing loss, I recently discovered that sound-independent (SI) patterns of neural activity emerge in the brain’s auditory centers that resemble those elicited by sound in hearing mice. This finding indicates that the brain can self- generate neural patterns that resemble sound processing, independent of the inner ear. To understand the relevance of SI activity to human disorders like tinnitus, I’ll expand these findings to more translationally relevant models of hearing loss (loud noise exposure and age-related hearing loss), as well as determine the area of the brain that generates these patterns. The results of these studies may help to develop new approaches to treat tinnitus, hyperacusis, and related disorders.
Long-term goal: Approximately 29 percent of U.S. adults in their 50s report some level of hearing loss, and this number grows to 69 percent of individuals in their 70s. Beyond social isolation and a decrease in quality of life, hearing loss has a much broader societal impact, as it has been linked to dementia, cognitive decline, and a decrease in total brain volume in older adults, as well as disorders of sound perception, like tinnitus and hyperacusis. However, the diverse sequelae that follow the loss of sensory input are not well defined, and the cellular changes in the brain that link hearing loss to secondary disorders are uncertain. The long-term goals related to this project are to determine the locus (or loci) of tonotopically patterned sound-independent activity in the CNS to guide mechanistic studies into how these patterns arise. Thus, these studies will provide new insight into the basic biology of hearing-related disorders, which could spawn new therapeutic avenues.
Generously funded by the Les Paul Foundation
