An excellent breakdown of a very complex and non-intuitive topic. I love reading and researching about BCIs keeping the whole neurallink hopium aside. I definitely think it's one of the scientific frontiers that are going to see massive breakthroughs within a decade or so and could be as revolutionary as AI itself in terms of impact.
Thank you! I agree, it's exciting times. When we combine advances in AI, improved understanding of neuroscience, and innovations in robotics, we get some crazy mind-blowing possibilities.
That's a very cool topic I'd love to read more about.
I really enjoyed the several minutes of explanation from the guy who received the cochlear implant. I honestly naively assumed that cochlear implants give you a crude but generally directly mappable soundscape that you can quite quickly adjust to (sort of like hearing people talk while you're submerged in the water). It was a revelation that the stuff you hear is initially unintelligible.
I wonder what would happen if you'd ever had a patient who suddenly regained the ability to hear and then removed the cochlear implant. Would they be able to immediately pick up speech (because their brain was once exposed to it) or would they need to relearn because their brain has now physically adjusted to the distorted world of the cochlear implant?
My guess is that it's the latter, knowing what we know about George Stratton's "inverted sight" experiment where the brain adjusted to seeing the world upside down, but then had to re-adjust again when the "inverted goggles" were taken off.
By the way, love your new "When Life Gives You A BrAIn" logo - neat play on words and it better reflects the more all-encompassing nature of your newsletter.
I believe that even after some time, hearing with a cochlear implant does sound a little muffled. I've heard it can sound a bit like someone is talking through a wall. This might have something to do with the limited number of electrodes compared with the number of hair cells in a healthy ear. Cochlear implants typically have between 12 and 24 electrodes, whereas a healthy human ear has around 16,000 hair cells.
Your thought experiment is such a great one. I'm really not sure. I love that experiment with the inverted goggles. The brain will always try to adjust and interpret the new normal while still trying to represent the world. So eventually with the inverted glasses the world starts to look right-side up even though the input is inverted compared to normal vision.
If hearing with the cochlear implant is radically different to hearing with hair cells (assuming the sudden regaining of hearing was caused by suddenly repaired hair cells), I could imagine hearing would require relearning. But I wonder whether the input is that different. Perhaps 16,000 hair cells simply provides higher resolution than 24 electrodes in the cochlear implant, perhaps hearing would sound just like the cochlear implant at first, but then, over time hearing would become high resolution as the brain adjusts to the higher resolution input. I'm really not sure. I have a friend who works on cochlear research, so I'm going to ask her when we next catch up.
Thanks, for noticing the name change. I wasn't sure anyone would actually notice. I agree, I think it's a better fit.
BCIs are bridging the gap between human and machine intelligence. The future holds exciting possibilities and challenges in this rapidly evolving field.
A very clear breakdown. The cochlear implant example is a nice in-road. Makes this tech feel a little more palatable. I have a family member with significant hearing loss in one ear, so this tech hits close to come. Look forward to learning more about from an expert like yourself.
Thanks for sharing your perspective, Nick. I can resonate with the feeling that merging brains and machines seems unpalatable to many. You raise an important point - just because we have the technological capability doesn't necessarily mean it's appropriate or ethical to pursue. As capabilities advance, we increasingly have to grapple with those tough questions about what we should do versus what we can do. I imagine you confront similar dilemmas often in your field of education too.
Good article! My sister has a cochlear implant (and I may need one myself), and she's described how muffled and garbled everything was a first but over time your brain adapts. I was told that even getting hearing aids for the first time often involves the brain having to relearn hearing.
I was born with severe hearing loss and can attest to the need to relearn when, late in life (long story), I finally got hearing aids. Quite an experience at first; I could hear birds!
My sister says things sound almost completely normal. A little tinny, she says, without her hearing aid, but normal with it.
An excellent breakdown of a very complex and non-intuitive topic. I love reading and researching about BCIs keeping the whole neurallink hopium aside. I definitely think it's one of the scientific frontiers that are going to see massive breakthroughs within a decade or so and could be as revolutionary as AI itself in terms of impact.
Thank you! I agree, it's exciting times. When we combine advances in AI, improved understanding of neuroscience, and innovations in robotics, we get some crazy mind-blowing possibilities.
That's a very cool topic I'd love to read more about.
I really enjoyed the several minutes of explanation from the guy who received the cochlear implant. I honestly naively assumed that cochlear implants give you a crude but generally directly mappable soundscape that you can quite quickly adjust to (sort of like hearing people talk while you're submerged in the water). It was a revelation that the stuff you hear is initially unintelligible.
I wonder what would happen if you'd ever had a patient who suddenly regained the ability to hear and then removed the cochlear implant. Would they be able to immediately pick up speech (because their brain was once exposed to it) or would they need to relearn because their brain has now physically adjusted to the distorted world of the cochlear implant?
My guess is that it's the latter, knowing what we know about George Stratton's "inverted sight" experiment where the brain adjusted to seeing the world upside down, but then had to re-adjust again when the "inverted goggles" were taken off.
By the way, love your new "When Life Gives You A BrAIn" logo - neat play on words and it better reflects the more all-encompassing nature of your newsletter.
I believe that even after some time, hearing with a cochlear implant does sound a little muffled. I've heard it can sound a bit like someone is talking through a wall. This might have something to do with the limited number of electrodes compared with the number of hair cells in a healthy ear. Cochlear implants typically have between 12 and 24 electrodes, whereas a healthy human ear has around 16,000 hair cells.
Your thought experiment is such a great one. I'm really not sure. I love that experiment with the inverted goggles. The brain will always try to adjust and interpret the new normal while still trying to represent the world. So eventually with the inverted glasses the world starts to look right-side up even though the input is inverted compared to normal vision.
If hearing with the cochlear implant is radically different to hearing with hair cells (assuming the sudden regaining of hearing was caused by suddenly repaired hair cells), I could imagine hearing would require relearning. But I wonder whether the input is that different. Perhaps 16,000 hair cells simply provides higher resolution than 24 electrodes in the cochlear implant, perhaps hearing would sound just like the cochlear implant at first, but then, over time hearing would become high resolution as the brain adjusts to the higher resolution input. I'm really not sure. I have a friend who works on cochlear research, so I'm going to ask her when we next catch up.
Thanks, for noticing the name change. I wasn't sure anyone would actually notice. I agree, I think it's a better fit.
That makes a lot of sense. Brains are amazing. Would love to hear what your friend thinks!
Brains really are amazing!
BCIs are bridging the gap between human and machine intelligence. The future holds exciting possibilities and challenges in this rapidly evolving field.
Absolutely! I’m enjoying keeping up with what’s going on in BCI research. Some people are working on some amazing things.
A very clear breakdown. The cochlear implant example is a nice in-road. Makes this tech feel a little more palatable. I have a family member with significant hearing loss in one ear, so this tech hits close to come. Look forward to learning more about from an expert like yourself.
Thanks for sharing your perspective, Nick. I can resonate with the feeling that merging brains and machines seems unpalatable to many. You raise an important point - just because we have the technological capability doesn't necessarily mean it's appropriate or ethical to pursue. As capabilities advance, we increasingly have to grapple with those tough questions about what we should do versus what we can do. I imagine you confront similar dilemmas often in your field of education too.
Good article! My sister has a cochlear implant (and I may need one myself), and she's described how muffled and garbled everything was a first but over time your brain adapts. I was told that even getting hearing aids for the first time often involves the brain having to relearn hearing.
Fascinating! I hadn't heard that hearing aids also require learning, but that makes complete sense.
I'm so curious, if your sister still describes sound as muffled, but less so?
I was born with severe hearing loss and can attest to the need to relearn when, late in life (long story), I finally got hearing aids. Quite an experience at first; I could hear birds!
My sister says things sound almost completely normal. A little tinny, she says, without her hearing aid, but normal with it.