Linda Hood, Ph.D.
Professor of Hearing and Speech Sciences
VKC Member
Overview of Interests
Research program focuses on physiology of the auditory system at cochlear, subcortical and cortical levels. Projects encompass several perspectives including normal and disordered auditory systems and hearing loss related to genetic mutations. Current projects related to hereditary hearing loss focus on characterization of the hearing losses using sensitive metrics of cochlear and neural function in affected and carrier individuals with the goal of providing more accurate phenotyping of auditory function. Another area of research involves patients with auditory neuropathy/dys-synchrony, with most of the work focusing on infants and children. This is a relatively newly described hearing disorder (Starr, Picton, Sininger, Hood, Berlin, 1996) and research focuses on understanding the underlying mechanisms and functional characteristics in order to improve management and communication skills of these patients. These two research areas relate to the Kennedy Center’s program topics of communication and learning, development and brain plasticity, and family issues.
Website
https://www.vumc.org/hood-lab/
Topics