2011 Volume 52 Issue 4 Pages 316-321
Auditory agnosia is the result of damage to the bilateral primary auditory cortex or auditory radiation. Patients with auditory agnosia cannot differentiate verbal or nonverbal (such as enviromental or musical) sounds, but their internal language is intact. Auditory agnosia in children is a very rare condition and is often misunderstood or overlooked.
In this manuscript, the author describes case reports of auditory agnosia caused by herpes encephalitis, adrenoleukodystrophy, and Landau-Kleffner syndrome, and focuses on the importance of early diagnosis of such conditions. The author also introduces similar but different conditions such as developmental language disorders and auditory neuropathy/auditory nerve diseases.