Pulses of light restored hearing in gerbils. Could that lead to higher-tech cochlear implants?

Could light one day be used to restore hearing loss?

To try to answer that question, a team of German bioengineers surgically installed coiled strips of optical fibers in the ears of deaf gerbils.

While they still had their hearing, the gerbils had learned to hurdle a small barrier upon hearing an alarm. Now researchers sent a pulse of blue laser light deep into the animals’ ears. They jumped.

The experiment was part of a study published Wednesday seeking to improve upon cochlear implants — electronic devices that stimulate auditory neurons to partially restore hearing. Instead of using electrical currents, scientists are trying to determine whether optogenetics, a new field that uses light to control living cells, could one day help improve someone’s sense of hearing.

Although it could take decades to use optogenetics-based