Researchers at UCL’s Ear Institute are using a unique machine to
deepen their understanding of how the brain processes sound.
This is important for deafness as the brain deciphers soundwaves
and an improvement in understanding this process has the
potential to improve how deafness is treated or managed. The Ear
Institute’s new small-animal magnetoencephalograph, or MEG for
short, is the most advanced machine of its type in the world.
The team hopes the research it makes possible will lead to
advances in treatments for deafness and a range of other
conditions. Magnetoencephalography is an imaging technique used
to measure the fluctuations of magnetic fields in the brain that
occur as a result of neural activity. It complements other brain
activity measurement techniques such as electroencephalography
(EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). MEG has
many uses, including localising a pathology and determining the
function of various parts of the brain. MEG has been used on
humans for some time, bu