[Bulbar auditory nuclei: morphological study, consequences for implantation of electrodes]

Many bilaterally profoundly deaf individuals cannot benefit from a cochlear implant because the eight nerve is not intact from the cochlea to the brain stem. For these individuals, electrical stimulation of the cochlear nuclear complex (CNC) may partially restore the sensation of hearing. Histological studies were done on 12 brain stems containing the region of the CNC and findings of this study seems important to accurate implantation of the prosthesis on the CNC for chronic electrical stimulation. Apparently the spheroid cells of the inferior ventral cochlear nucleus (IVCN) represents the site of the CNC for such stimulation.