Zoonar GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo
A special cochlear implant has used to light to聽enable deaf gerbils聽to sense sound. The results suggest that optical stimulation could one day be used to treat hearing loss in people.
The method uses a technique called optogenetics,聽which involves manipulating聽nerve cells so they can be activated by light. The team used a virus to insert a gene for a protein that detects light into the cochlea, the snail-shaped organ in the inner ear that converts sound into electrical signals. They then implanted an optical fibre聽into the cochlea to deliver light signals.
To test whether the animals…
