Cochlear implants have restored hearing in hundreds of thousands of people around the world, but many users still have hearing difficulties -- they may have trouble recognizing musical melodies or struggle to comprehend speech in noisy environments. But how cochlear implants affect the brain to enable hearing -- and how they fall short -- is still a mystery. In a new study in marmosets, researchers compare how individual neurons in the brain's auditory cortex respond to sound and cochlear implant stimulation. The scientists identify neurons that don't respond to cochlear implant stimulation and find those neurons are sharply tuned to frequency and sound level, revealing a potential mechanism of hearing deficits in those with cochlear implants.
Learn more at The Journal of Neuroscience
Source: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-12/sfn-jhf120716.php
