Ultrasound active areas in the auditory cortex measured by 122-channel whole-head neuromagnetometer

This paper presents a study on the ultrasonic hearing aids and perception tests for both normal hearing subjects and profoundly deaf people and the active location of estimated signal sources in the brain. In these experiments auditory activities by bone-conducted ultrasonic stimuli were measured by magnetoencephalography using a 122-channel whole-head neuromagnetometer. Both normal hearing and profoundly deaf people could perceive the ultrasound stimuli; however the active center in the brain of the latter people was found in a different region (superior temporal area) from the former subjects. These results suggest the reorganization of the auditory central nervous system in humans.