APA Dictionary of Psychology

any damage to structures of the auditory system along the nerve pathway from the inner ear to the associated brain centers. Childhood sensorineural lesions may be congenital and due to a failure of such structures to develop normally in the fetal stage, or they may result from postnatal infection (e.g., measles, mumps, scarlet fever), whereas adult sensorineural lesions are due to injury or disease, such as a tumor.