Hearing-impaired can Enjoy Music Again With Cochlear Implants

A cochlear implant helps in recognizing sound, so that people like Daniela Andrews can enjoy listening to music again.

Andrews developed a condition three years ago that caused her immune system to attack hair cells in her inner ear, gradually destroying her hearing.

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"A lot of people with cochlear implants are so grateful to be able to hear and speak, they don't want to express disappointment about the music side of things," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Andrews as saying.

"But for those of us who have had hearing, a world without music is still a pretty silent world," she added.

The implant works in tandem with a microphone and processor worn like a hearing aid behind the ear, and electrically stimulates the auditory nerve so recipients can hear sound.

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"With a cochlear implant, there is a large array of sounds and it's about the brain trying to separate and make sense of them. So the richer the music is, the harder it gets," said Andrews.

"Orchestral music is particularly difficult because it has so many different instruments," she added.

Anatomy of Ear and Hearing
Ear converts sound waves into electrical impulses that are transmitted to the temporal lobe of the brain through the auditory nerve. It consists of outer, inner and middle sections.

Source-ANI

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