SENSORY-NEURAL HEARING LOSS
Hearing impairment due to an abnormality of the functioning of the INNER EAR, the auditory nerve, or both. The most common form of this impairment involves a degeneration of the hair cells attached to the ORGAN OF CORTI, a condition which cannot be reversed. However, the recently developed cochlear implant is an electronic device which attempts to simulate the sensory-neural function of the hair cells and restore some degree of hearing acuity.
See: ACOUSTIC TRAUMA, HEARING LOSS, OTOLOGY, PRESBYCUSIS, RECRUITMENT. Compare: CONDUCTIVE HEARING LOSS.
home