Browse Technologies

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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.

This is a high resolution imaging device that can detect the fundamental functional units of cortical organization. Currently, with existing technology, we are able to monitor the activity of these units in the awake, head-fixed animal using large standard sized cameras mounted on heavy camera arms. However, we need a capability to conduct such monitoring in the awake and freely moving animal so that we can relate specific patterns of cortical activity to natural behaviors.