Central hearing loss is a form of sensorineural hearing loss

Sensorineural hearing loss

Sensorineural hearing loss is a type of hearing loss in which the root cause lies in the vestibulocochlear nerve , the inner ear, or central processing centers of the brain....

 caused by damage to the auditory pathways

Auditory system

The auditory system is the sensory system for the sense of hearing.- Outer ear :The folds of cartilage surrounding the ear canal are called the pinna...

. When the damage is to the primary auditory cortex

Primary auditory cortex

The primary auditory cortex is the region of the brain that is responsible for the processing of auditory information. Corresponding roughly with Brodmann areas 41 and 42, it is located on the temporal lobe, and performs the basics of hearing—pitch and volume...

, the impairment is called "cortical deafness".

Cortical deafness

Cortical deafness is essentially the combination of word deafness and auditory agnosia. It is characterized by an inability to interpret either verbal or nonverbal sounds with preserved awareness of the occurrence of sound (as for instance by a startle reaction to a clap. In most instances, the cause is bilateral embolic stroke to the area of Heschl's gyri. It usually results from bilateral lesions and happens when remaining normal auditory cortex is destroyed. It begins as a sudden deafness, which evolves into a picture where patients can hear sounds but are unable to recognize their meaning. Relatively few cases of this disorder have been studied. Note that this syndrome might be difficult to distinguish from a brainstem lesion such as described above. Mendez and Geehan have reviewed this syndrome (1988). The black areas on the scan above are strokes in the temporal lobes of both sides.

External links

• Overview at dizziness-and-balance-com

• http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/disorders/hearing/cent_hearing.html