Sending sound to the brain.
The cochlear implant, a microelectrode array that directly stimulates the auditory nerve, has greatly benefited many individuals with profound deafness. Deaf patients without an intact auditory nerve may be helped by the next generation of auditory prostheses: surface or penetrating auditory brainstem implants that bypass the auditory nerve and directly stimulate auditory processing centers in the brainstem.
Rauschecker
J P
JP
Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20007, USA.
Shannon
R V
RV
D000818:Animals; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D001307:Auditory Perception; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003056:Cochlear Nerve / Q000502:physiology; D017626:Cochlear Nucleus / Q000502:physiology* / Q000601:surgery; D003638:Deafness / Q000601:surgery*; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D006309:Hearing; D006801:Humans; D008839:Microelectrodes; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity; D019736:Prostheses and Implants