ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses auditory processing in terms of what the brain does with the information that it receives—it separates, integrates, and remembers it. Auditory system breakdowns rarely lead to a complete loss of hearing. Lesions in the auditory system can result in disorders of the hearing nerve and auditory brainstem. Clients with central auditory impairments may well have particular difficulty when there is background noise. They often report being unable to accurately distinguish complex speech sounds. In addition to a loss of hearing sensitivity, disorders can occur at higher levels of the auditory nervous system, from the upper brainstem to the cortex. One of the significant contributions of audiology is to identify nonorganic hearing loss and obtain a valid hearing test for diagnostic as well as for medicolegal purposes. The great thing about having a middle ear is that it acts as a matching device between the outside world and the inner ear.
