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Neuroscientist whose work helped the deaf

Neuroscientist whose work helped the deaf

The death has taken place of Dr. Robert Galambos a neuroscientist whose research provided ways of helping the profoundly deaf.

Dr. Galambos, who was 96, had embarked on research in the 1930s which enabled him to learn the code by which nerves send messages about sound to the brain. 

This work led to the development of surgically implanted devices which helped provide a sense of sound to the profoundly deaf.

He went on to conduct research on electrical activity in the brainstem which resulted in him developing a hearing test for infants and others who cannot verbalise.

Dr. Galambos will also be remembered for helping to prove how bats navigate in total darkness. He had teamed up with Dr. Donald R. Griffin to prove the theory that bats reflected sounds to detect objects.

In later years Dr. Galambos, who was the author of over 200 scientific publicatins, had conducted research on how the eye sends information to the brain.

He died at his home in San Diego.

 

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