The objective of this research is to develop new designs for neural prostheses used in stimulating the auditory system that improve the transfer of information supporting speech recognition into surviving auditory pathways. Although this project is directed primarily towards animal studies, the work scope requires careful evaluation of the feasibility for the project to provide advancements to the design of neural prostheses used in humans. The development of shared technical resources uniquely suited to neural prosthesis research and development will also be supported.