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Hearing and Speech Sciences

Troy A. Hackett

Professor

Education:

  • B.A., 1987, Indiana University, IN
  • M.A., 1989, Indiana University, IN
  • Ph.D., 1996, Vanderbilt University, TN

Biography:

Dr. Hackett studies the central auditory system of humans, nonhuman primates, and other animal models. Anatomical, neurophysiological, and genomic techniques are combined to characterize the structural and functional changes associated with development, hearing loss, and aging. These techniques include 1) architectonic and chemoarchitectonic profiles of brain areas; 2) gene and protein expression profiles of neuronal and glial subtypes in specific areas and pathways; 3) identification of cell-type-specific connections and pathways between brain areas, and 4) neurophysiology and behavior. Most recently, the Hackett laboratory has applied these techniques in collaborative studies of the impact of development, aging, and noise-induced hearing loss on neurotransmitter receptor expression in the central auditory pathways. Additional collaborations utilize these techniques to study mechanisms of drug addiction in reward system circuitry and schizophrenia.