Verma Rohit U, Guex Amélie A, Hancock Kenneth E, Durakovic Nedim, McKay Colette M, Slama Michaël C C, Brown M Christian, Lee Daniel J
School of Medicine, University of Manchester, UK; Eaton-Peabody Laboratories, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, USA; Department of Otology and Laryngology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland.
Hear Res. 2014 Apr;310:69-75. doi: 10.1016/j.heares.2014.01.008. Epub 2014 Feb 5.
In an effort to improve the auditory brainstem implant, a prosthesis in which user outcomes are modest, we applied electric and infrared neural stimulation (INS) to the cochlear nucleus in a rat animal model. Electric stimulation evoked regions of neural activation in the inferior colliculus and short-latency, multipeaked auditory brainstem responses (ABRs). Pulsed INS, delivered to the surface of the cochlear nucleus via an optical fiber, evoked broad neural activation in the inferior colliculus. Strongest responses were recorded when the fiber was placed at lateral positions on the cochlear nucleus, close to the temporal bone. INS-evoked ABRs were multipeaked but longer in latency than those for electric stimulation; they resembled the responses to acoustic stimulation. After deafening, responses to electric stimulation persisted, whereas those to INS disappeared, consistent with a reported "optophonic" effect, a laser-induced acoustic artifact. Thus, for deaf individuals who use the auditory brainstem implant, INS alone did not appear promising as a new approach.
为了改进听觉脑干植入物（一种使用效果一般的假体），我们在大鼠动物模型中将电刺激和红外神经刺激（INS）应用于耳蜗核。电刺激在下丘诱发了神经激活区域以及短潜伏期、多峰的听觉脑干反应（ABR）。通过光纤传递到耳蜗核表面的脉冲式INS在下丘诱发了广泛的神经激活。当光纤置于耳蜗核靠近颞骨的外侧位置时，记录到的反应最强。INS诱发的ABR是多峰的，但潜伏期比电刺激诱发的ABR更长；它们类似于对声刺激的反应。致聋后，对电刺激的反应持续存在，而对INS的反应消失，这与报道的“光声”效应（一种激光诱发的声学伪像）一致。因此，对于使用听觉脑干植入物的聋人个体来说，单独使用INS作为一种新方法似乎没有前景。
