Cochlear implants (CIs) are considered the most successful neuroprosthesis as they enable speech comprehension in the majority of half a million CI users suffering from sensorineural hearing loss. By electrically stimulating the auditory nerve, CIs constitute an interface re-connecting the brain and the auditory scene, providing the patient with information regarding the latter. However, since electric current is hard to focus in conductive environments such as the cochlea, the precision of electrical sound encoding-and thus quality of artificial hearing-is limited. Recently, optogenetic stimulation of the cochlea has been suggested as an alternative approach for hearing restoration. Cochlear optogenetics promises increased spectral selectivity of artificial sound encoding, hence improved hearing, as light can conveniently be confined in space to activate the auditory nerve within smaller tonotopic ranges. In this review, we discuss the latest experimental and technological developments of cochlear optogenetics and outline the remaining challenges on the way to clinical translation.

中文翻译：

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走向光学人工耳蜗：听力恢复的光遗传学方法。


人工耳蜗 (CI) 被认为是最成功的神经假体，因为它们使 50 万患有感音神经性听力损失的 CI 用户中的大多数能够理解语言。通过电刺激听觉神经，CI 构成了重新连接大脑和听觉场景的界面，为患者提供有关后者的信息。然而，由于电流很难在耳蜗等导电环境中集中，因此电声音编码的精度以及人工听力的质量受到限制。最近，耳蜗的光遗传学刺激被建议作为听力恢复的替代方法。耳蜗光遗传学有望提高人工声音编码的光谱选择性，从而改善听力，因为光可以方便地限制在空间中，以在较小的音位范围内激活听觉神经。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了耳蜗光遗传学的最新实验和技术发展，并概述了临床转化过程中剩余的挑战。