Infrared light can stimulate neurons in the inner ear as precisely as sound waves, a discovery that could lead to better cochlear implants for deaf people.

Proposed guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommends that all children who are newly diagnosed with severe to profound deafness are offered cochlear implants in both ears.

A recent study of cochlear implant patients seen by Indiana University School of Medicine physicians is the first to show evidence that having cochlear implants in both ears significantly improves quality of life in patients with profound hearing loss, and that the cost of the second implant is offset by its benefits.

Deafness Research UK recently awarded a scholarship to Salma Mahmood, an audiology student at Aston University, to study the way in which the brain processes echoes. The work, carried out with Dr Bernhard Seeber at Nottingham's MRC Institute of Hearing Research, is important for understanding how we localize sounds indoors.

An important discovery by a team at Rutgers University in New Jersey could lead to a new generation of cochlear implants – otherwise known as “bionic ears” – and improved hearing for the profoundly or totally deaf.

The Wellcome Trust is hosting an event on Friday 29th February to showcase a new DVD of Playing God, a Wellcome Trust-funded play from Deafinitely Theatre that explores issues around cochlear implants.

A tiny electrode array placed directly in the auditory nerve could overcome the limitations of cochlear implants.

Research is revealing that profoundly deaf people fitted with a cochlear implant can benefit from having implants in both ears.

New research suggests that deaf children who have a cochlear implant in each ear more accurately locate sounds when they use both implants instead of one. Children with two implants also become more skilled at localizing sound over time.

A new study may have discovered why people who use cochlear implants have difficulty understanding tonal languages, like Mandarin Chinese.

Children who have cochlear implants fitted after being deafened by meningitis show remarkable progress in developing speech skills, according to a five-year study.

New research indicates that the earlier a deaf infant or toddler receives a cochlear implant, the better his or her spoken language skills are at age three and a half.

It is a common perception that the performance of hearing impaired children in school suffers because of their hearing loss. Two studies indicate that this does not apply to children whose hearing loss is treated with cochlear implants.

A new study shows that early intervention with cochlear implants can make a significant difference in auditory development in deaf children.

New research shows that cochlear implants in very young animals can create new nerve fibres that transmit sound and restore hearing by reversing or preventing damage to the brain’s auditory system.

British scientists are developing a device that will allow deaf people to listen to music.

People with severe to profound hearing loss and poor speech understanding who possess some residual hearing in one ear may experience significant communication benefit from a cochlear implant, even if it is placed in the worse-hearing ear, a Johns Hopkins study suggests.

Super-sensitive sound detectors used by crickets to spot predators have been recreated in the laboratory. Scientists hope studying the tiny artificial hairs might lead to the development of new cochlear implants for the profoundly deaf.