image: Schematic illustration of the newly proposed optical cochlear implants. A strip of LEDs is inserted into the snail shaped cochlea. Optical cochlear implants promise spatially confined activation (blue shade indicates light from activitated LEDS) of neurons in the auditory nerve allowing for a higher number of independent stimulation channels and, thereby, improving frequency and intensity resolution. This material relates to a paper that appeared in the 11 July, issue of Science Translational Medicine, published by AAAS. The paper, by C. Wrobel at University Medical Center Göttingen in Göttingen, Germany; and colleagues was titled, 'Optogenetic stimulation of cochlear neurons activates the auditory pathway and restores auditory-driven behavior in deaf adult gerbils.' view more
Credit: University Medical Center Göttingen, Germany