Question

a patient reports that she has become completely deaf; she cant hear anything. thorough tests on her ears indicate that her ears have not been damaged. additional tests reveal that her deafness has been caused by damage to her ______.

primary somatosensory cortex

auditory association area

somatosensory association cortex

none of the listed responses is correct.

Explanation:

• The primary somatosensory cortex is related to touch, pressure, pain, etc., not hearing.
• The auditory association area is involved in interpreting and understanding sounds, not the initial perception of sound (which would be related to the primary auditory cortex). If the ears are fine (so the initial sound - gathering and basic auditory signal generation is okay), but there is deafness, it's not likely the auditory association area.
• The somatosensory association cortex is also related to the interpretation of somatosensory (touch - related) information, not auditory.

Answer:

None of the listed responses is correct.