Agnosia: Auditory

Auditory agnosia is the loss of auditory recognition in the absence of deafness. It is often associated with lesions of the auditory cortex, but the definition does not require a cortical lesion. It also is possible to have auditory agnosia resulting from disorders of the auditory nerve, brainstem, and midbrain. Acquired agnosia following brain insult is rare because it often, but not always, follows damage to both sides of the brain, which is usually fatal. The assessment of auditory agnosia requires the assessment of both discrimination and recognition. Problems with discrimination occur in apperceptive agnosia (caused by loss of perception), [Page 27]when there will also be deficits in recognition. In associative agnosia, discrimination (and therefore perception) is intact, but there will be a deficit in ...