ABSTRACT
Electrical stimulation for manipulation of the nervous system has frequently been greeted with enthusiastic and sometimes uncritical acceptance. The resulting high expectations coupled with the relative technical ease of implementations have led to widespread use of neural stimulation without a complete definition of the mechanisms of action. One of the most important side effects of the clinical application of functional neural stimulation is the information obtained concerning human neurophysiology, for the majority of present basic neurophysiologic knowledge has been obtained from human pathology and animal studies. Neural stimulation offers unique opportunities to learn about the normal function of the human nervous system. A natural concern in the use of neural stimulation is the possibility of tissue damage resulting from the electric currents. The direction of visual prosthesis research has been to implant an array of electrodes on the visual cortex. Phrenic nerve stimulation is usually applied to chronic ventilatory insufficiency of central origin with complete dependence upon mechanical ventilation.
