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Brainstem and Midbrain Lesions

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Central Auditory Pathway Disorders
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Abstract

When viewing drawings of the brainstem auditory pathways, it is easy to imagine that the brainstem is merely a series of telegraph stations relaying messages to the cortex. However, a significant amount of processing occurs at the brainstem level, and lesions can affect higher functions even if not all pathways to the cortex have been severed. There is another aspect of brainstem anatomy. The brainstem is small, the size of a man’s thumb, and all but the tiniest lesions can be expected to affect multiple tracts or nuclei. In this chapter, a range of insults—from the subtle to the fatal—are considered.

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(2009). Brainstem and Midbrain Lesions. In: Central Auditory Pathway Disorders. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-26920-5_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-26920-5_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Tokyo

  • Print ISBN: 978-4-431-26654-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-4-431-26920-5

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