Will Neurolink make Hi-Fi obsolete?

[Ar9Jim 6,112]

Quote

 

 

Edited July 2, 2023 by Ar9Jim

[Ar9Jim 6,112]

Video is 2 years old. FDA already approved human trials

[BrianD 488]

I know a fair amount about this subject.  The short answer is no, for a couple of reasons.

 

First of all, there are about 30,000 nerve fibers in the cochlear nerve.  The neurolink device if I remember has about 1000 electrodes, but after implantation not all of them are functional.  And long term, all brain interface electrodes tend to have problems due to the foreign body response of the glial cells in the brain.  So even the basic technology does not have the frequency resolution needed for music appreciation.  If you know anyone with a cochlear implant they will tell you this, they can understand speech but music doesn’t sound right.

 

But more importantly, auditory processing does not occur in a single region of the brain.  For example, when there is a sharp new sound you will automatically turn your head to that direction.  This is an automatic reflex occurring in the midbrain and is not part of the conscious perception of sound.  There are at least four areas of the brain involved in auditory processing, so  implanting electrodes in the final conscious processing part for sound will not really work.  I think that the first application of this technology will be for motion in paralyzed patients which is much simpler, more understood, and suited to this number of electrodes.

 

The brain is very complicated.

 

In the long run the answer is probably yes, as everything eventually becomes obsolete.  But I don’t think Neuralink will obsolete our hobby.

[4krow 5,087]

 Brian,

 

 I sure wasn't getting excited about this possibility after seeing what we have done so far concerning hearing loss. And yes, I can be a poster child for how screwed up our sense of hearing can get. No doubt, if the ear doesn't get it right to begin with, you may be dead in the water, but unfortunately for me, there is much more. I will just say that there is a link between the two halves of the brain (at least how an audiologist told me) for sound/speech recognition. If that is impaired in some way, the sound may be there but the brain doesn't 'get it'. It is not translated well. God, can I ever relate to this! When I was young, my sense of hearing was incredible, but my speech recognization has always been horrible. So, when everyone else loved an album for the lyrics, I loved it for the music, and music only. In fact, music is the one thing that I still understand fairly well. Speech in most cases is becoming useless for me, and I seem to explain this multiple times per day in public (twice today, so far).

 I want to know more about all of this even if it doesn't help my situation.

[AndrewJohn 8,195]

14 hours ago, 4krow said:

but my speech recognization has always been horrible. So, when everyone else loved an album for the lyrics, I loved it for the music, and music only.

Ditto.  I understand music, music theory, have perfect pitch, and can play many instruments, including non-fretted kind that demand good understanding of pitch/tone/intonation..., but lyrics, I have to read.

 

Same issue with TV/Movies.  I always watch with the subtitles on, or I would have no idea what is going on.

[4krow 5,087]

AJ,

 

 Here is a question for you. Even though music is being played in pitch, does it ever sound flat to you? This is something that I often hear, and really wonder what the truth of it all is. Not just on my system, but when the organ in church is playing it sounds flat, and sometimes pace is slow as well. Yes, many church organists play as if it were funeral, and a few of them with liven the tempo which might be a relief, should the piece intended it.

 Look at Hyden's Clock Symphony. Sometimes played as a grandfather clock (my preference) and other times played as a pocket watch.

[radtraveller 220]

So even of this tech can provide “perfect reproduction” that doesn’t mean my brain, my biases, would perceive it as “perfect” to me.

also, how would that replace the whole body experience of feeling the thump of the base and the vibrations affecting the entire body from a well amplified and favorite track?

seems it would never be able to measure up to actual sound waves hitting a body in 4d space.