Researchers in Germany have developed a touchscreen test, using monkeys, which will help improve the quality and safety of hearing implants.
A team at the German Primate Center and the University Medical Center, both in Göttingen, created a training program that marmoset monkeys can perform on a voluntary basis in the lab.
The findings published in Nature Communications, showed monkeys completing a series of tests where they hear different sounds and then match them to the appropriate visual stimuli by clicking on a touchscreen.
This approach allowed scientists to track which sounds the animals can hear and discriminate.
"With this method, one person can train several animals in parallel and the results are of such high quality that we will be able to use this training and testing method for our research on optical cochlear implants in the future," said study leader Marcus Jeschke.