PSY-1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Microcomputer, Brainstem, Phosphene
Document Summary
Sonicguide allows a blind person to perceive the size, distance, movement, shape, and texture of objects through sound waves that represent visual features of objects. Emits high frequency sound waves beyond the range of human hearing. Bounce back from the objects in the environment and are transformed into sounds that can be heard through headphones. Sound qualities match specific features of external objects. Pitch tells distance, loudness tells size, clarity tells texture. For people suffering nerve deafness who cannot be assisted by hearing aids. A set of 22 electrodes implanted in a coil-like fashion to directly stimulate the auditory nerve. A microphone sends sound waves to a processor implanted in the bone behind the ear. The processor breaks sound down into principal frequencies and sends electrical signals to cochlear areas associated with particular frequencies. Showed increasingly registered in the auditory cortex. Implanted auditory brain stem device onto cochlear nucleus. Delivers auditory impulses directly to the brain restoring hearing.
