A cochlear implant placed in a cochlea of a living subject for stimulating the auditory system of the living subject, where the auditory system comprises auditory neurons. In one embodiment, the cochlear implant includes a plurality of light sources, {L.sub.i}, placeable distal to the cochlea, each light source, L.sub.1, being operable independently and adapted for generating an optical energy, E.sub.i, wherein i=1, . . . , N, and N is the number of the light sources, and delivering means placeable in the cochlea and optically coupled to the plurality of light sources, {L.sub.i}, such that in operation, the optical energies {E.sub.i} generated by the plurality of light sources {L.sub.i} are delivered to target sites, {G.sub.i}, of auditory neurons, respectively, wherein the target sites G.sub.1 and G.sub.N of auditory neurons are substantially proximate to the apical end and the basal end of the cochlea, respectively.
