Fitting implants in babies could let deaf children speak almost as well as hearing children (Image: Stock.xchng)
BRAIN activity that is “scrambled” in deaf cats develops normally if they are fitted with a cochlear implant shortly after birth. The finding may explain how deaf children given implants as babies can learn to speak almost as well as hearing children.
In hearing animals, sound vibrates hair cells in the inner ear, triggering neurons to send impulses to the brain. In deaf animals, these hair cells are often defective; cochlear implants compensate by stimulating neurons directly.
To see how this artificial stimulation…
