Kimitaka Kaga – författare

Auditory neuropathy is gaining more attention as new findings come to light and as hearing screening of newborns has been introduced in many countries in the past decade. A compilation of research topics from around the world, this book provides the latest knowledge on the neuropathy of the auditory and vestibular eighth cranial nerves, with valuable information on pathophysiology and genetics, new subtypes, and recent research on cochlear implants in patients with auditory neuropathy, including children. Among the several major sections of the book, one presents neurological cases and another focuses on historical issues. Covering a wide range of related topics, the book provides a wealth of insights on this disease entity and on auditory and vestibular neuropathy in particular. It is a useful and informative reference for all those interested in and concerned with auditory nerve disease, especially for medical students, researchers, and clinicians.

Brain imaging and neurophysiological methods have been rapidly developed. The purpose of this book is to describe hearing problems which are caused by various kinds of brain diseases in central auditory pathway. Each topic is explained to use a lot of figures such as brain imaging and neurophysiological data comparing with neuropsychological tests. Readers will understand what happens in patients, when bilateral auditory nerve and auditory cortex are damaged in patients. Some patients can hear but cannot discriminate meanings of speech, music and environmental sounds. The author tries to explain why such a difference occurs.

Many congenitally deaf infants and children suffer vestibular failure, which produces problems with their postural control, locomotion and gait. However it is known that these children can eventually catch up with their normal balance control status in terms of development and growth as a result of central vestibular compensation. In Vertigo and Balance Disorders in Children the author provides comprehensive and integrative information on the vestibular system. The materials presented range from the history of its study, basic anatomy and physiology of vestibular organs, mechanism of balance and motor function development, to clinical aspects of vestibular disorders including their evaluation and pediatric neurology. Although there have been books discussing postural responses of infants and children with vestibular disorders, this is the first to present the influence of peripheral vestibular disorders and central vestibular compensation comprehensively. This book will benefit not only practitioners in this field such as pediatric otolaryngologists, pediatricians, child neurologists and neurologists, but also clinical specialists such as neonatologists, physical therapists and speech therapists, helping them to better care for patients with vestibular failure.

The purpose of this book is to contribute to basic and clinical medical research on cochlear implants for inner ear malformation and cochlear nerve deficiency. 

Cochlear implantation for children is performed worldwide, and the outcomes concerning speech and hearing acquisition are epoch-making. However, there are some difficulties associated with applying this operative treatment to patients who have complicated inner ear malformations or cochlear nerve deficiencies that have slowed the development of their speech, hearing, and/or sense of balance.

This book addresses current topics concerning Landau-Kleffner Syndrome (LKS) and related central auditory disorders from the perspectives of epidemiology, diagnosis, genetics and clinical treatment.

LKS is a rare childhood neurological disorder and manifests auditory agnosia as the central auditory verbal dysfunction. In many cases, LKS patients also suffer from epileptic seizures.