Patrick Flanagan's invention of the Neurophone in 1958 is an extraordinary breakthrough that allows people to "hear" and experience sound without using their ears by directly stimulating the brain.

        How can we hear without our ears? Sound travels as vibrations through the air (or other medium) to our eardrums, causing them to vibrate. These vibrations are transferred by means of three tiny bones to the cochlea, a fluid-filled part of our inner ear that translates these vibrations into electrical impulses that are then sent on to the brain for processing into sound.

        The neurophone transmits sound through any solid material such as bone, but instead of using external air vibrations, direct neurophone sound transmission sends electrical impulses directly to the brain.

        The neurophone consists of an electronic circuit that generates two slightly different electric signals (the difference between which is the signal) and applies these through electrodes on your skin to produce sound.

The neurophone is based upon Dr Patrick Flanagan's research in the late 1950's. Flanagan found that sound could be encoded in the form of neuro-impulses, and transmitted through bone to the brain without using the ears. With the neurophone it is possible to hear music through your computer (could just use headphones instead)?

The neurophone was originally designed for military applications where covert communications were necessary .

In 1960, neurophones were used to transmit sonar signals from dolphins. The neurophone was then applied to other animals for covert communications applications. Now v2 has released the neurophone V3 model for general consumer use which is more affordable than previous models.

        There are two neurophones: one that stimulates the cochlea directly through the bones of the skull, and one that stimulates the skin.

        • The cochlear neurophone consists of a small box about 4x2x1 inches in size with two crocodile clips to attach it to your earlobes.

        • The skin neurophone is a flat neurophone applied to a small area of your skin with the electrodes placed over the neurophone signal inputs.

        The neurophone can be used for underwater communications, or to listen to neuromusic through your computer speakers.

You could even use it as a telephone for talking directly to your brain!

Using sound transmitted through bone instead of air means that background sounds are filtered out, leaving just neurophone music.

Some people have claimed that using it daily has actually improved their test scores and even increased their IQ!