Hearing

For audiologists, otologists, neurologists, researchers, and psychologists and psychiatrists who treat patients with tinnitus and other hyperactive auditory disorders, Moller (cognition and neuroscience, U. of Texas at Dallas) explains the anatomy and physiology of the middle ear, cochlea, and auditory nervous system; the causes and treatments of several hearing disorders; and the physiological basis for the involvement of the auditory nervous system in disorders that were previously assumed to only involve the ear. He addresses the role of the expression of neural plasticity in creating symptoms and signs of disorders, electrical potentials, what anatomical structures generate the different components of such far field potentials as auditory brainstem responses and middle latency response, and how these potentials are affected by different pathologies. He discusses disorders of the ear and auditory nervous system, including hearing impairment and those caused by hyperactivity of the brain, especially tinnitus; the role of neural plasticity; cochlear and brainstem implants and their physiological basis; prevention of hearing loss; and practical and legal aspects of hearing conservation. This edition takes an integrated approach to disorders, rather than dividing them into peripheral and central disorders, and emphasizes the roles of the nervous system in the normal function of hearing, especially involvement in age-related hearing. Chapters have been revised and reorganized, and new artwork and information has been added. The book was previously published as Hearing: Its Physiology and Pathophysiology (2006). Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)