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Megan Fitzhugh

Photo of Megan Fitzhugh
Title(s)Assistant Adjunct Professor, Neurosciences
SchoolVc-health Sciences-schools
Address9500 Gilman Drive #
La Jolla CA 92093
ORCID ORCID Icon0000-0001-5275-7361 Additional info
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    Collapse Biography 
    Collapse education and training
    University of Arizona, Tucson, AZBS05/2011Physiology
    University of Arizona, Tucson, AZMS05/2013Physiological Sciences
    Arizona State University, Tempe, AZPhD05/2019Cognitive Neurosciences
    University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CAPostdoctoral Fellow01/2022Gerontology
    University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CAPostdoctoral Scholar06/2025

    Collapse Overview 
    Collapse overview
    I am a new assistant professor and am actively seeking undergraduate interns to begin in the fall of 2025! Please see our lab website: https://www.hearingbrainlab.ucsd.edu/

    A 1-year commitment and minimum 10 hours/week are requested. Please contact me via email and include a resume/CV and brief description of what you hope to gain from the experience.

    My research explores how hearing affects brain health as we age. I study how age-related hearing loss contributes to cognitive decline, including dementia, and how hearing aids and other interventions could help protect the brain. I’m especially interested in how the brain adapts to hearing loss and how social factors like isolation or depression may play a role. By understanding these links, my goal is to improve brain health in later life and make hearing-related care more effective and accessible for everyone.
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    Collapse Research 
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    An emerging Alzheimer's disease risk factor: An investigation of hearing impairment, hippocampal function, and memory in middle-aged and older adults
    NIH K22AG081276May 1, 2025 - Apr 30, 2028
    Role: Principal Investigator

    Collapse Bibliographic 
    Collapse selected publications
    Publications listed below are automatically derived from MEDLINE/PubMed and other sources, which might result in incorrect or missing publications. Researchers can login to make corrections and additions, or contact us for help. to make corrections and additions.
    Newest   |   Oldest   |   Most Cited   |   Most Discussed   |   Timeline   |   Field Summary   |   Plain Text
    Altmetrics Details PMC Citations indicate the number of times the publication was cited by articles in PubMed Central, and the Altmetric score represents citations in news articles and social media. (Note that publications are often cited in additional ways that are not shown here.) Fields are based on how the National Library of Medicine (NLM) classifies the publication's journal and might not represent the specific topic of the publication. Translation tags are based on the publication type and the MeSH terms NLM assigns to the publication. Some publications (especially newer ones and publications not in PubMed) might not yet be assigned Field or Translation tags.) Click a Field or Translation tag to filter the publications.
    1. How Can Graph Theory Inform the Dual-stream Model of Speech Processing? A Resting-state Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of Stroke and Aphasia Symptomology. J Cogn Neurosci. 2025 Mar 01; 37(3):737-766. Zhu H, Fitzhugh MC, Keator LM, Johnson L, Rorden C, Bonilha L, Fridriksson J, Rogalsky C. PMID: 39536158.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions:    Fields:    Translation:Humans
    2. Women with hearing loss show increased dementia risk and brain atrophy. Alzheimers Dement (Amst). 2023 Oct-Dec; 15(4):e12499. Fitzhugh MC, Pa J. PMID: 38026760; PMCID: PMC10680060.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 2  
    3. How can graph theory inform the dual-stream model of speech processing? a resting-state fMRI study of post-stroke aphasia. bioRxiv. 2023 Apr 19. Zhu H, Fitzhugh MC, Keator LM, Johnson L, Rorden C, Bonilha L, Fridriksson J, Rogalsky C. PMID: 37131756; PMCID: PMC10153155.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions:
    4. Using whole-brain diffusion tensor analysis to evaluate white matter structural correlates of delayed visuospatial memory and one-week motor skill retention in nondemented older adults: A preliminary study. PLoS One. 2022; 17(9):e0274955. Lingo VanGilder J, Bergamino M, Hooyman A, Fitzhugh MC, Rogalsky C, Stewart JC, Beeman SC, Schaefer SY. PMID: 36137126; PMCID: PMC9499308.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 4     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    5. Longitudinal Changes in Resting-State Functional Connectivity and Gray Matter Volume Are Associated with Conversion to Hearing Impairment in Older Adults. J Alzheimers Dis. 2022; 86(2):905-918. Fitzhugh MC, Pa J. PMID: 35147536; PMCID: PMC10796152.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 7     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    6. Distinct Contributions of Working Memory and Attentional Control to Sentence Comprehension in Noise in Persons With Stroke. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2021 08 09; 64(8):3230-3241. Fitzhugh MC, LaCroix AN, Rogalsky C. PMID: 34284642; PMCID: PMC8740654.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 5     Fields:    Translation:HumansPHPublic Health
    7. Cognitive and neural predictors of speech comprehension in noisy backgrounds in older adults. Lang Cogn Neurosci. 2021; 36(3):269-287. Fitzhugh MC, Schaefer SY, Baxter LC, Rogalsky C. PMID: 34250179; PMCID: PMC8261331.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 7  
    8. Functional Connectivity of Heschl's Gyrus Associated With Age-Related Hearing Loss: A Resting-State fMRI Study. Front Psychol. 2019; 10:2485. Fitzhugh MC, Hemesath A, Schaefer SY, Baxter LC, Rogalsky C. PMID: 31780994; PMCID: PMC6856672.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 23  
    9. Age-Related Atrophy and Compensatory Neural Networks in Reading Comprehension. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2019 07; 25(6):569-582. Fitzhugh MC, Braden BB, Sabbagh MN, Rogalsky C, Baxter LC. PMID: 31030698; PMCID: PMC6816336.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 6     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    10. Gradual hypertension induction in middle-aged Cyp1a1-Ren2 transgenic rats produces significant impairments in spatial learning. Physiol Rep. 2019 03; 7(6):e14010. Willeman MN, Chawla MK, Zempare MA, Biwer LA, Hoang LT, Uprety AR, Fitzhugh MC, De Both M, Coleman PD, Trouard TP, Alexander GE, Mitchell KD, Barnes CA, Hale TM, Huentelman M. PMID: 30916484; PMCID: PMC6436186.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 6     Fields:    Translation:AnimalsCells
    11. A functional MRI investigation of crossmodal interference in an audiovisual Stroop task. PLoS One. 2019; 14(1):e0210736. Fitzhugh MC, Whitehead PS, Johnson L, Cai JM, Baxter LC, Rogalsky C. PMID: 30645634; PMCID: PMC6333399.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 4     Fields:    Translation:Humans
    12. Functional Neuroanatomy of Second Language Sentence Comprehension: An fMRI Study of Late Learners of American Sign Language. Front Psychol. 2018; 9:1626. Johnson L, Fitzhugh MC, Yi Y, Mickelsen S, Baxter LC, Howard P, Rogalsky C. PMID: 30237778; PMCID: PMC6136263.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 6  
    13. Blood Pressure Control in Aging Predicts Cerebral Atrophy Related to Small-Vessel White Matter Lesions. Front Aging Neurosci. 2017; 9:132. Kern KC, Wright CB, Bergfield KL, Fitzhugh MC, Chen K, Moeller JR, Nabizadeh N, Elkind MSV, Sacco RL, Stern Y, DeCarli CS, Alexander GE. PMID: 28555103; PMCID: PMC5430031.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 27  
    14. Differences in Resting State Functional Connectivity between Young Adult Endurance Athletes and Healthy Controls. Front Hum Neurosci. 2016; 10:610. Raichlen DA, Bharadwaj PK, Fitzhugh MC, Haws KA, Torre GA, Trouard TP, Alexander GE. PMID: 28018192; PMCID: PMC5147411.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 38  
    15. Interactive effects of subjective memory complaints and hypertension on learning and memory performance in the elderly. Neuropsychol Dev Cogn B Aging Neuropsychol Cogn. 2016; 23(2):154-70. Nguyen LA, Haws KA, Fitzhugh MC, Torre GA, Hishaw GA, Alexander GE. PMID: 26185923; PMCID: PMC4679686.
      View in: PubMed   Mentions: 8     Fields:    Translation:Humans
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