Hi:

It is possible for a patient with central deafness to have
totally-silent dreams [like watching TV on "mute"] due to an
abnormality in his/her brain? I imagine in those who are deaf due to
damage to parts of their brains would be just as deaf in their dreams
as during wake -- even if the deafness is non-congenital [i.e. it could
happen in a perfectly healthy adult in his/her mid 20s who previously
had no difficulty in hearing]. AFAIK, the parts of the brain that
perceive sounds in our dreams are the same as the parts of the that
perceive actual sounds. So, IIRC, if the deafness is due to brain
anomaly, the dreams will be just as silent as the real world. What if
the parts of the brain that transmit and process auditory info are not
diseased but the parts that receive the audio are damaged -- and the
damage occurs in a healthy young individual in his/her mid-20s who has
never had any previous audio impairment? Obviously this would result in
loss of perception of real sounds during wakefulness. Would it cause
the individual to be deaf in his/her dreams? I beleive -- though I
could be wrong -- that the parts that receive the ultimate auditory
percept are similar whether the audio perception is from reality or
from dreams. I am talking of a case where a person can imagine and
remember sounds clearly, but loses the ability to directly perceive
auditory info. Auditory memories and imaginations can and do occur but
the patient simply cannot perceive audio -- whether from real life or
from dreams. I think that this is a possible scenario. Has this ever
happened to anyone?


Thanks,

Radium