This account of the auditory cortex brings together research in the various disciplines of neuroscience. Its purpose is to give the reader an adequate background for understanding the mechanisms of normal auditory cortical function and cortical deafness. It is designed to inform readers with a variety of backgrouds, including physiologists, anatomists, psychologists and neurologists. To this end the terminology needed to express ideas about auditory cortical structure and function is related to a chapter in which methodology is stressed.