2007 Conference on Implantable Auditory Prostheses

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application seeks partial support for the 2007 Conference on Implantable Auditory Prostheses, scheduled at the Granlibakken Conference Center, Lake Tahoe, CA, July 10-15, 2007. The cochlear implant is the first neural prosthesis to achieve the technical success necessary for widespread clinical application. It provides the only effective therapy for restoring sound sensation and speech understanding to the profoundly deaf. Over the past 20 years dramatic improvements in patients' performance with these devices have been achieved. Currently the average speech understanding score for implanted postlingually deafened adults is between 80-100% correct. These advances have derived substantially from the collective efforts of researchers in a broad array of scientific disciplines. This close collaboration and cooperation has been fostered in large part through this series of biennial research conferences, originating with a 1983 Gordon Conference. These conferences are the only forum in which scientific research issues are the sole focus. Topics to receive emphasis in this meeting are the coding of temporal fine structure (TFS) for speech and music, implants in infants and children, and the effects of training. Complex pitch and music, which rely on TFS, have proven to be particularly difficult to convey in a cochlear implant. Cochlear implant research is at the forefront of studies to elucidate the underlying neuroscience of complex pitch. Learning and plasticity have long been known to relevant to hearing aids and implants, and are now receiving considerable attention in recent research. In addition to these topics we will examine the latest research on (1) biological trophic factors, (2) novel stimulation and signal-processing strategies, (3) implants beyond the cochlea, (4) combining implant stimulation with low-frequency residual hearing. In sum, the conference will continue the tradition of bringing together knowledge and data from a wide range of disciplines in an effort to better understand electrical stimulation of the cochlea and to improve the performance of patients fitted with cochlear implants. This application seeks partial support for a conference on basic research on cochlear implants and other forms of prosthetic hearing. This conference provides a unique forum for scientists to share their latest research and to brainstorm about future directions in research.