This unit provides an understanding of the anatomy and physiology of hearing, hearing impairment and tinnitus. It covers normal peripheral and central processing of sound, including acoustics of the external ear, middle-ear function, cochlear mechanics, hair cell physiology, neural signalling, strial function and fluid and salt balance in the inner ear, peripheral and central lesions, conductive losses, sensori-neural losses, and cochlear and retro-cochlear problems, and some issues in vestibular physiology. Causes of hearing problems are covered, including otitis externa, acute otitis media, glue ear, cholesteotoma, ossicular discontinuity and fixation, barotrauma, fistula, facial nerve disorders, cerebrovascular disorders, Meniere's disease, dizziness, acoustic neuroma, and intracranial tumours, noise-induced hearing loss, ototoxicity, presbyacusis, sudden hearing loss, auditory neuropathy, systemic diseases affecting hearing and auditory syndromes . The unit explains the physiological basis and diagnosis of peripheral and central processing of sound, and the deficits that result from different hearing impairment. 

Lectures and tutorials: Equivalent of 1 lecture & 1 tutorial per week. Timetable to be advised. 
6 points in semester 1 
Pre-requisites: none, but pre-reading assumed. 
Unit co-ordinator: Dr. R. Patuzzi