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Bell A, Toh WL, Allen P, Cella M, Jardri R, Larøi F, Moseley P, Rossell SL. Examining the relationships between cognition and auditory hallucinations: A systematic review. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 2024; 58:467-497. [PMID: 38470085 PMCID: PMC11128145 DOI: 10.1177/00048674241235849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Auditory hallucinations (hearing voices) have been associated with a range of altered cognitive functions, pertaining to signal detection, source-monitoring, memory, inhibition and language processes. Yet, empirical results are inconsistent. Despite this, several theoretical models of auditory hallucinations persist, alongside increasing emphasis on the utility of a multidimensional framework. Thus, clarification of current evidence across the broad scope of proposed mechanisms is warranted. METHOD A systematic search of the Web of Science, PubMed and Scopus databases was conducted. Records were screened to confirm the use of an objective behavioural cognitive task, and valid measurement of hallucinations specific to the auditory modality. RESULTS Auditory hallucinations were primarily associated with difficulties in perceptual decision-making (i.e. reduced sensitivity/accuracy for signal-noise discrimination; liberal responding to ambiguity), source-monitoring (i.e. self-other and temporal context confusion), working memory and language function (i.e. reduced verbal fluency). Mixed or limited support was observed for perceptual feature discrimination, imagery vividness/illusion susceptibility, source-monitoring for stimulus form and spatial context, recognition and recall memory, executive functions (e.g. attention, inhibition), emotion processing and language comprehension/hemispheric organisation. CONCLUSIONS Findings were considered within predictive coding and self-monitoring frameworks. Of concern was the portion of studies which - despite offering auditory-hallucination-specific aims and inferences - employed modality-general measures, and/or diagnostic-based contrasts with psychologically healthy individuals. This review highlights disparities within the literature between theoretical conceptualisations of auditory hallucinations and the body of rigorous empirical evidence supporting such inferences. Future cognitive investigations, beyond the schizophrenia-spectrum, which explicitly define and measure the timeframe and sensory modality of hallucinations, are recommended.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrienne Bell
- Centre for Mental Health and Brain Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Wei Lin Toh
- Centre for Mental Health and Brain Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Psychiatry, St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Department of Psychology, Alfred Health, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Paul Allen
- Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - Matteo Cella
- South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Maudsley Hospital, London, UK
- Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK
| | - Renaud Jardri
- University of Lille, INSERM U-1172, Plasticity and Subjectivity Team, Lille Neuroscience and Cognition Research Centre, Fontan Hospital, CHU Lille, Lille, France
| | - Frank Larøi
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Psychology and Neuroscience of Cognition Research Unit, University of Liege, Liege, Belgium
| | - Peter Moseley
- Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK
| | - Susan L Rossell
- Centre for Mental Health and Brain Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
- Psychiatry, St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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Ragazzi TCC, Shuhama R, da Silva PHR, Corsi-Zuelli F, Loureiro CM, da Roza DL, Leoni RF, Menezes PR, Del-Ben CM. Neurocognition and brain functional connectivity in a non-clinical population-based sample with psychotic experiences. Schizophr Res 2024; 267:156-164. [PMID: 38547718 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2024.03.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2023] [Revised: 01/17/2024] [Accepted: 03/17/2024] [Indexed: 05/21/2024]
Abstract
We characterized the neurocognitive profile of communed-based individuals and unaffected siblings of patients with psychosis from Brazil reporting psychotic experiences (PEs). We also analyzed associations between PEs and the intra and inter-functional connectivity (FC) in the Default Mode Network (DMN), the Fronto-Parietal Network (FPN) and the Salience Network (SN) measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging. The combined sample of communed-based individuals and unaffected siblings of patients with psychosis comprised 417 (neurocognition) and 85 (FC) volunteers who were divided as having low (<75th percentile) and high (≥75th percentile) PEs (positive, negative, and depressive dimensions) assessed by the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences. The neurocognitive profile and the estimated current brief intellectual quotient (IQ) were assessed using the digit symbol (processing speed), arithmetic (working memory), block design (visual learning) and information (verbal learning) subtests of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-third edition. Logistic regression models were performed for neurocognitive analysis. For neuroimaging, we used the CONN toolbox to assess FC between the specified regions, and ROI-to-ROI analysis. In the combined sample, high PEs (all dimensions) were related to lower processing speed performance. High negative PEs were related to poor visual learning performance and lower IQ, while high depressive PEs were associated with poor working memory performance. Those with high negative PEs presented FPN hypoconnectivity between the right and left lateral prefrontal cortex. There were no associations between PEs and the DMN and SN FC. Brazilian individuals with high PEs showed neurocognitive impairments like those living in wealthier countries. Hypoconnectivity in the FPN in a community sample with high PEs is coherent with the hypothesis of functional dysconnectivity in schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taciana Cristina Carvalho Ragazzi
- Department of Neuroscience and Behaviour, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Brazil, 3900, Bandeirantes Avenue, Monte Alegre, 14040-900 Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil.
| | - Rosana Shuhama
- Department of Neuroscience and Behaviour, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Brazil, 3900, Bandeirantes Avenue, Monte Alegre, 14040-900 Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil.
| | - Pedro Henrique Rodrigues da Silva
- Department of Physics, InBrain Laboratory, Faculty of Philosophy Sciences and Letters of Ribeirão Preto-University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, 3900, Bandeirantes Avenue, Monte Alegre, 14040-901 Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil.
| | - Fabiana Corsi-Zuelli
- Department of Neuroscience and Behaviour, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Brazil, 3900, Bandeirantes Avenue, Monte Alegre, 14040-900 Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil.
| | - Camila Marcelino Loureiro
- Department of Neuroscience and Behaviour, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Brazil, 3900, Bandeirantes Avenue, Monte Alegre, 14040-900 Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil.
| | - Daiane Leite da Roza
- Department of Neuroscience and Behaviour, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Brazil, 3900, Bandeirantes Avenue, Monte Alegre, 14040-900 Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil; Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
| | - Renata Ferranti Leoni
- Department of Physics, InBrain Laboratory, Faculty of Philosophy Sciences and Letters of Ribeirão Preto-University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, 3900, Bandeirantes Avenue, Monte Alegre, 14040-901 Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil.
| | - Paulo Rossi Menezes
- Department of Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Brazil, Population Mental Health Research Centre, Brazil, 455, Dr. Arnaldo Avenue, Cerqueira César, 01246903 São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
| | - Cristina Marta Del-Ben
- Department of Neuroscience and Behaviour, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Brazil, 3900, Bandeirantes Avenue, Monte Alegre, 14040-900 Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil.
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Lajoie MP, Gilbert E, Rouleau N. Effect of non-pharmacological interventions on source memory processes in the early course of psychosis: A systematic review. Early Interv Psychiatry 2021; 15:219-233. [PMID: 32141226 DOI: 10.1111/eip.12951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2019] [Revised: 12/20/2019] [Accepted: 01/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
UNLABELLED People with a psychotic disorder suffer from major cognitive impairments which prevent their functional recovery. Source memory impairments have been shown to be associated with psychotic symptoms and even to precede their onset. Source memory has thus been hypothesized as a cognitive precursor of psychosis. However, few interventions targeting source memory are included in current therapeutic approaches for early psychosis. AIM This systematic review aimed to identify non-pharmacological interventions for early psychosis which have impacted source memory processes. METHODS Studies were selected from nine databases when they included: (a) a non-pharmacological intervention involving a sample of patients with early-onset psychotic disorder or subclinical psychotic symptoms; and (b) effects on source memory processes, measured directly or inferred through an episodic memory task. RESULTS Thirteen studies were identified, including two cognitive remediation programs and one repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment that reported beneficial effects on source memory. CONCLUSIONS Relevant intervention strategies for source memory impairments were identified. This review points up a need to further develop interventions targeting theoretically defined source memory concepts and assess their effects with specific and valid tasks. Recommendations regarding underlying mechanisms which could have a beneficial impact on source memory may provide guidance for the future development of early psychosis interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie-Pier Lajoie
- MANDALAB (Mindfulness AND Attention LAB), CERVO Brain Research Center, Quebec, Canada.,School of Psychology, Laval University, Quebec, Canada
| | - Elsa Gilbert
- Health Sciences Department, University of Quebec in Rimouski, Quebec, Canada
| | - Nancie Rouleau
- MANDALAB (Mindfulness AND Attention LAB), CERVO Brain Research Center, Quebec, Canada.,School of Psychology, Laval University, Quebec, Canada
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Brébion G, Stephan-Otto C, Ochoa S, Cuevas-Esteban J, Núñez-Navarro A, Usall J. Clinical and non-clinical hallucinations are similarly associated with source memory errors in a visual memory task. Conscious Cogn 2019; 76:102823. [PMID: 31586672 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2019.102823] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2019] [Revised: 08/24/2019] [Accepted: 09/14/2019] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Hallucinations have been found to be associated with various types of source memory failure in both schizophrenia patients and hallucination-prone healthy individuals. We investigated the associations of clinical and non-clinical hallucinations with source memory errors in a visual memory task that involved the remembering of picture presentation context. 59 schizophrenia patients and 61 healthy individuals took part in the study. Pictures were presented either at different locations or in association with different visual stimuli. The participants were required afterwards to recognize the target pictures among distractors, and then to remember their spatial location or the visual stimulus that was associated with them. Liberal response bias in picture recognition was associated with hallucination proneness and auditory-verbal hallucinations in subsamples of participants with significant non-clinical or clinical hallucinations. After controlling for overall memory performance, failure to remember the spatial location of the pictures was associated with visual hallucinations in male patients; failure to remember the associated visual stimulus was related to auditory-verbal hallucinations in female patients and to hallucination proneness in healthy women. The findings suggest that both clinical and non-clinical hallucinations are associated with loss of contextual information relative to the acquisition of events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gildas Brébion
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain; Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain.
| | - Christian Stephan-Otto
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain; Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain
| | - Susana Ochoa
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain; Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain
| | - Jorge Cuevas-Esteban
- Servei de Psiquiatria, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain
| | - Araceli Núñez-Navarro
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain; Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain
| | - Judith Usall
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain; Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Madrid, Spain
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Pinheiro AP, Farinha-Fernandes A, Roberto MS, Kotz SA. Self-voice perception and its relationship with hallucination predisposition. Cogn Neuropsychiatry 2019; 24:237-255. [PMID: 31177920 DOI: 10.1080/13546805.2019.1621159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Introduction: Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) are a core symptom of psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia but are also reported in 10-15% of the general population. Impairments in self-voice recognition are frequently reported in schizophrenia and associated with the severity of AVH, particularly when the self-voice has a negative quality. However, whether self-voice processing is also affected in nonclinical voice hearers remains to be specified. Methods: Thirty-five nonclinical participants varying in hallucination predisposition based on the Launay-Slade Hallucination Scale, listened to prerecorded words and vocalisations differing in identity (self/other) and emotional quality. In Experiment 1, participants indicated whether words were spoken in their own voice, another voice, or whether they were unsure (recognition task). They were also asked whether pairs of words/vocalisations were uttered by the same or by a different speaker (discrimination task). In Experiment 2, participants judged the emotional quality of the words/vocalisations. Results: In Experiment 1, hallucination predisposition affected voice discrimination and recognition, irrespective of stimulus valence. Hallucination predisposition did not affect the evaluation of the emotional valence of words/vocalisations (Experiment 2). Conclusions: These findings suggest that nonclinical participants with high HP experience altered voice identity processing, whereas HP does not affect the perception of vocal emotion. Specific alterations in self-voice perception in clinical and nonclinical voice hearers may establish a core feature of the psychosis continuum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana P Pinheiro
- a Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa , Lisboa , Portugal
| | | | - Magda S Roberto
- a Faculdade de Psicologia, Universidade de Lisboa , Lisboa , Portugal
| | - Sonja A Kotz
- b Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University , Maastricht , Netherlands.,c Max Planck Institute for Human and Cognitive Sciences , Leipzig , Germany
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Alderson-Day B, Fernyhough C. Auditory verbal hallucinations: Social, but how? JOURNAL OF CONSCIOUSNESS STUDIES : CONTROVERSIES IN SCIENCE & THE HUMANITIES 2016; 23:163-194. [PMID: 29238264 PMCID: PMC5724750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) are experiences of hearing voices in the absence of an external speaker. Standard explanatory models propose that AVH arise from misattributed verbal cognitions (i.e. inner speech), but provide little account of how heard voices often have a distinct persona and agency. Here we review the argument that AVH have important social and agent-like properties and consider how different neurocognitive approaches to AVH can account for these elements, focusing on inner speech, memory, and predictive processing. We then evaluate the possible role of separate social-cognitive processes in the development of AVH, before outlining three ways in which speech and language processes already involve socially important information, such as cues to interact with others. We propose that when these are taken into account, the social characteristics of AVH can be explained without an appeal to separate social-cognitive systems.
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Badcock JC. A Neuropsychological Approach to Auditory Verbal Hallucinations and Thought Insertion - Grounded in Normal Voice Perception. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2015; 7:631-652. [PMID: 27617046 PMCID: PMC4995233 DOI: 10.1007/s13164-015-0270-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
A neuropsychological perspective on auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) links key phenomenological features of the experience, such as voice location and identity, to functionally separable pathways in normal human audition. Although this auditory processing stream (APS) framework has proven valuable for integrating research on phenomenology with cognitive and neural accounts of hallucinatory experiences, it has not yet been applied to other symptoms presumed to be closely related to AVH – such as thought insertion (TI). In this paper, I propose that an APS framework offers a useful way of thinking about the experience of TI as well as AVH, providing a common conceptual framework for both. I argue that previous self-monitoring theories struggle to account for both the differences and similarities in the characteristic features of AVH and TI, which can be readily accommodated within an APS framework. Furthermore, the APS framework can be integrated with predictive processing accounts of psychotic symptoms; makes predictions about potential sites of prediction error signals; and may offer a template for understanding a range of other symptoms beyond AVH and TI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johanna C Badcock
- Centre for Clinical Research in Neuropsychiatry, School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, 6009 Western Australia
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Chhabra S, Badcock JC, Maybery MT, Leung D. Voice identity discrimination and hallucination-proneness in healthy young adults: a further challenge to the continuum model of psychosis? Cogn Neuropsychiatry 2014; 19:305-18. [PMID: 24328826 DOI: 10.1080/13546805.2013.865512] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Auditory hallucinations occur in schizophrenia and also in the general population. However, evidence points to differences in the nature and the mechanisms of clinical and non-clinical hallucinations, challenging the dominant assumption that they represent the same phenomenon. The current study extended this evidence by examining voice identity perception in hallucination-prone individuals. In schizophrenia, deficiencies discriminating between real (external) voices have been linked to basic acoustic cues, but voice discrimination has not yet been investigated in non-clinical hallucinations. METHODS Using a task identical to that employed in patients, multidimensional scaling of voice dissimilarity judgements was used to examine how healthy individuals differing in hallucination-proneness (30 high and 30 low hallucination-prone individuals) distinguish pairs of unfamiliar voices. The resulting dimensions were interpreted with reference to acoustic measures relevant to voice identity. RESULTS A two-dimensional "voice space", defined by fundamental frequency (F0) and formant dispersion (Df), was derived for high and low hallucination-prone groups. There were no significant differences in speaker discrimination for high versus low hallucination-prone individuals on the basis of either F0 or Df. CONCLUSIONS These findings suggest voice identity perception is not impaired in healthy individuals predisposed to hallucinations, adding a further challenge to the continuum model of psychotic symptoms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saruchi Chhabra
- a School of Psychology , University of Western Australia , 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley , WA 6009 , Australia
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Grot S, Potvin S, Luck D. Is there a binding deficit in working memory in patients with schizophrenia? A meta-analysis. Schizophr Res 2014; 158:142-5. [PMID: 25048424 DOI: 10.1016/j.schres.2014.06.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2014] [Revised: 05/29/2014] [Accepted: 06/01/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
In schizophrenia (SZ), a specific binding deficit in working memory (WM) has not yet been demonstrated, given that studies with various methodologies were conducted and the results obtained were heterogeneous. Thus, a meta-analysis of 10 WM studies was performed. Effect sizes were calculated for binding and control conditions. Analyses disclosed significantly lower scores in SZ patients relative to controls for both binding and control conditions. In addition, analyses revealed no greater impairments for the binding condition than for the control condition in SZ patients. Our meta-analysis suggests that there is no specific deficit of binding in WM in SZ.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stéphanie Grot
- Centre de recherche, Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Stéphane Potvin
- Centre de recherche, Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - David Luck
- Centre de recherche, Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
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de Leede-Smith S, Barkus E. A comprehensive review of auditory verbal hallucinations: lifetime prevalence, correlates and mechanisms in healthy and clinical individuals. Front Hum Neurosci 2013; 7:367. [PMID: 23882203 PMCID: PMC3712258 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 110] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2013] [Accepted: 06/25/2013] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Over the years, the prevalence of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) have been documented across the lifespan in varied contexts, and with a range of potential long-term outcomes. Initially the emphasis focused on whether AVHs conferred risk for psychosis. However, recent research has identified significant differences in the presentation and outcomes of AVH in patients compared to those in non-clinical populations. For this reason, it has been suggested that auditory hallucinations are an entity by themselves and not necessarily indicative of transition along the psychosis continuum. This review will examine the presentation of auditory hallucinations across the life span, as well as in various clinical groups. The stages described include childhood, adolescence, adult non-clinical populations, hypnagogic/hypnopompic experiences, high schizotypal traits, schizophrenia, substance induced AVH, AVH in epilepsy, and AVH in the elderly. In children, need for care depends upon whether the child associates the voice with negative beliefs, appraisals and other symptoms of psychosis. This theme appears to carry right through to healthy voice hearers in adulthood, in which a negative impact of the voice usually only exists if the individual has negative experiences as a result of their voice(s). This includes features of the voices such as the negative content, frequency, and emotional valence as well as anxiety and depression, independently or caused by voices presence. It seems possible that the mechanisms which maintain AVH in non-clinical populations are different from those which are behind AVH presentations in psychotic illness. For example, the existence of maladaptive coping strategies in patient populations is one significant difference between clinical and non-clinical groups which is associated with a need for care. Whether or not these mechanisms start out the same and have differential trajectories is not yet evidenced. Future research needs to focus on the comparison of underlying factors and mechanisms that lead to the onset of AVH in both patient and non-clinical populations.
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Badcock JC, Chhabra S. Voices to reckon with: perceptions of voice identity in clinical and non-clinical voice hearers. Front Hum Neurosci 2013; 7:114. [PMID: 23565088 PMCID: PMC3615181 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2013] [Accepted: 03/15/2013] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
The current review focuses on the perception of voice identity in clinical and non-clinical voice hearers. Identity perception in auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) is grounded in the mechanisms of human (i.e., real, external) voice perception, and shapes the emotional (distress) and behavioral (help-seeking) response to the experience. Yet, the phenomenological assessment of voice identity is often limited, for example to the gender of the voice, and has failed to take advantage of recent models and evidence on human voice perception. In this paper we aim to synthesize the literature on identity in real and hallucinated voices and begin by providing a comprehensive overview of the features used to judge voice identity in healthy individuals and in people with schizophrenia. The findings suggest some subtle, but possibly systematic biases across different levels of voice identity in clinical hallucinators that are associated with higher levels of distress. Next we provide a critical evaluation of voice processing abilities in clinical and non-clinical voice hearers, including recent data collected in our laboratory. Our studies used diverse methods, assessing recognition and binding of words and voices in memory as well as multidimensional scaling of voice dissimilarity judgments. The findings overall point to significant difficulties recognizing familiar speakers and discriminating between unfamiliar speakers in people with schizophrenia, both with and without AVH. In contrast, these voice processing abilities appear to be generally intact in non-clinical hallucinators. The review highlights some important avenues for future research and treatment of AVH associated with a need for care, and suggests some novel insights into other symptoms of psychosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johanna C. Badcock
- School of Psychology, The University of Western AustraliaPerth, WA, Australia
- Centre for Clinical Research in Neuropsychiatry, School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, University of Western AustraliaPerth, WA, Australia
| | - Saruchi Chhabra
- School of Psychology, The University of Western AustraliaPerth, WA, Australia
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