Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) awarded a $1,987,881 Project Grant to the University of Colorado-Denver, with an award date of April 1, 2026 and completion date of March 31, 2029, under the Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders program (CFDA 93.173). This research project focuses on investigating age-related demyelination in the auditory brain stem as a contributing mechanism to central hearing loss in older adults. The research aims to isolate demyelination mechanisms in the sound localization pathway using Mongolian gerbils as an animal model, test pharmaceutical and acoustic stimulation interventions to reverse age-related demyelination, and study oligodendrocyte function to understand the biological drivers of myelin loss in aging auditory systems.

The project deliverables include experimental research demonstrating whether demyelination in auditory afferent fibers contributes to the difficulty older adults experience isolating sounds in complex acoustic environments, pharmacological reversal approaches to restore auditory processing capabilities, and mechanistic insights into oligodendrocyte-mediated myelin maintenance and regeneration in aging. By characterizing the role of demyelination in central hearing loss—a common but poorly understood medical condition affecting approximately one-third of middle-aged Americans and over half of those over age 70—this research is expected to inform future clinical intervention strategies for age-related hearing impairment.