I was just sent this video by a friend of a 29-year-old woman who is filmed as she hears her own voice for the first time with the use of an ear implant.
The advances in such technology has triggered a backlash among some advocates for the deaf who insist it is wrong and fails to recognize deafness as a different culture rather than a disability.
Skepticism is fine. But perhaps you’d like to read this woman’s own blog before you cast judgment on whether this is “undoubtedly not completely true.”
http://sarahchurman.blogspot.com/
(see her Oct 13 posting)
OS, 100% with you. Erykah, you will notice that the first thing OS expressed was the doubts you voiced yourself. AY (#274019), don’t feel bad, such knowledge is far from widespread and usually comes from coincidental experience.
test
Nal, there are a number of simulations online. The short answer is that the sound is pretty crappy overall compared to normal speech or music. Four channels is about the absolute minimum needed for anything resembling understandable speech.
This simulation is one of the better ones.
I would be interested to learn how the implant “sounds.” The comparison would have to come from someone who had normal hearing and later had to get the implant. I expect it sounds pretty crappy compared to a functional hearing system.
erykah, short answer to your question is yes. I have both the academic and experience credentials to understand both the mechanics and the neruroanatomy involved. Much of the
From what I have been able to learn about her is that she used hearing aids, but they were not as effective as she needed and were not practical. She could not have been profoundly deaf if she had been using hearing aids in the past. Also, she would NOT have been a candidate for the implant had she been profoundly deaf since childhood. As I said above, the headline about “first time” appears to be editorial hyperbole and not factual.
Doctors cannot do the implant successfully if the auditory processing centers on the left side of the brain are undeveloped, especially the superior temporal gyrus, including Brodmann areas I and II. Brain development is very much dependent on use. The old adage, ‘use it or lose it’ would apply. If she had profound deafness, she would not have anything in the brain with which to process sound and even if she had some vestiges, she would be unable to interpret the sounds.
The same rule applies to vision, which is processed in the occipital areas bilaterally.