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Lavigne KM, Woodward TS. Hallucination- and speech-specific hypercoupling in frontotemporal auditory and language networks in schizophrenia using combined task-based fMRI data: An fBIRN study. Hum Brain Mapp 2017; 39:1582-1595. [PMID: 29271110 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.23934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2017] [Revised: 09/26/2017] [Accepted: 11/08/2017] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Hypercoupling of activity in speech-perception-specific brain networks has been proposed to play a role in the generation of auditory-verbal hallucinations (AVHs) in schizophrenia; however, it is unclear whether this hypercoupling extends to nonverbal auditory perception. We investigated this by comparing schizophrenia patients with and without AVHs, and healthy controls, on task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data combining verbal speech perception (SP), inner verbal thought generation (VTG), and nonverbal auditory oddball detection (AO). Data from two previously published fMRI studies were simultaneously analyzed using group constrained principal component analysis for fMRI (group fMRI-CPCA), which allowed for comparison of task-related functional brain networks across groups and tasks while holding the brain networks under study constant, leading to determination of the degree to which networks are common to verbal and nonverbal perception conditions, and which show coordinated hyperactivity in hallucinations. Three functional brain networks emerged: (a) auditory-motor, (b) language processing, and (c) default-mode (DMN) networks. Combining the AO and sentence tasks allowed the auditory-motor and language networks to separately emerge, whereas they were aggregated when individual tasks were analyzed. AVH patients showed greater coordinated activity (deactivity for DMN regions) than non-AVH patients during SP in all networks, but this did not extend to VTG or AO. This suggests that the hypercoupling in AVH patients in speech-perception-related brain networks is specific to perceived speech, and does not extend to perceived nonspeech or inner verbal thought generation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katie M Lavigne
- Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.,BC Mental Health and Addictions Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Todd S Woodward
- Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.,BC Mental Health and Addictions Research Institute, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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Steinmann S, Leicht G, Mulert C. Interhemispheric auditory connectivity: structure and function related to auditory verbal hallucinations. Front Hum Neurosci 2014; 8:55. [PMID: 24574995 PMCID: PMC3920068 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2013] [Accepted: 01/23/2014] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) are one of the most common and most distressing symptoms of schizophrenia. Despite fundamental research, the underlying neurocognitive and neurobiological mechanisms are still a matter of debate. Previous studies suggested that “hearing voices” is associated with a number of factors including local deficits in the left auditory cortex and a disturbed connectivity of frontal and temporoparietal language-related areas. In addition, it is hypothesized that the interhemispheric pathways connecting right and left auditory cortices might be involved in the pathogenesis of AVH. Findings based on Diffusion-Tensor-Imaging (DTI) measurements revealed a remarkable interindividual variability in size and shape of the interhemispheric auditory pathways. Interestingly, schizophrenia patients suffering from AVH exhibited increased fractional anisotropy (FA) in the interhemispheric fibers than non-hallucinating patients. Thus, higher FA-values indicate an increased severity of AVH. Moreover, a dichotic listening (DL) task showed that the interindividual variability in the interhemispheric auditory pathways was reflected in the behavioral outcome: stronger pathways supported a better information transfer and consequently improved speech perception. This detection indicates a specific structure-function relationship, which seems to be interindividually variable. This review focuses on recent findings concerning the structure-function relationship of the interhemispheric pathways in controls, hallucinating and non-hallucinating schizophrenia patients and concludes that changes in the structural and functional connectivity of auditory areas are involved in the pathophysiology of AVH.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saskia Steinmann
- Psychiatry Neuroimaging Branch, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg, Germany
| | - Gregor Leicht
- Psychiatry Neuroimaging Branch, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg, Germany
| | - Christoph Mulert
- Psychiatry Neuroimaging Branch, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf Hamburg, Germany
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Ćurčić-Blake B, Liemburg E, Vercammen A, Swart M, Knegtering H, Bruggeman R, Aleman A. When Broca goes uninformed: reduced information flow to Broca's area in schizophrenia patients with auditory hallucinations. Schizophr Bull 2013; 39:1087-95. [PMID: 23070537 PMCID: PMC3756780 DOI: 10.1093/schbul/sbs107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Auditory-verbal hallucinations (AVHs) are frequently associated with activation of the left superior temporal gyrus (including Wernicke's area), left inferior frontal gyrus (including Broca's area), and the right hemisphere homologs of both areas. It has been hypothesized that disconnectivity of both interhemispheric transfer and frontal and temporal areas may underlie hallucinations in schizophrenia. We investigated reduced information flow in this circuit for the first time using dynamic causal modeling, which allows for directional inference. A group of healthy subjects and 2 groups of schizophrenia patients-with and without AVH-performed a task requiring inner speech processing during functional brain scanning. We employed connectivity models between left hemispheric speech-processing areas and their right hemispheric homologs. Bayesian model averaging was used to estimate the connectivity strengths and evaluate group differences. Patients with AVH showed significantly reduced connectivity from Wernicke's to Broca's area (97% certainty) and a trend toward a reduction in connectivity from homologs of Broca's and Wernicke's areas to Broca's area (93% and 94% certainty). The connectivity magnitude in patients without hallucinations was found to be intermediate. Our results point toward a reduced input from temporal to frontal language areas in schizophrenia patients with AVH, suggesting that Broca's activity may be less constrained by perceptual information received from the temporal cortex. In addition, a lack of synchronization between Broca and its homolog may lead to the erroneous interpretation of emotional speech activity from the right hemisphere as coming from an external source.
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Affiliation(s)
- Branislava Ćurčić-Blake
- Department of Neuroscience, Neuroimaging Center, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, A. Deusinglaan 2, 9713AW, Groningen,The Netherlands;,To whom correspondence should be addressed; Cognitive Neuropsychiatry Group, Department of Neuroscience, Neuroimaging Center (NIC), University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen,Antonius Deusinglaan 2, 9713 AW Groningen,The Netherlands; tel: +31503638806, fax: +31503638875, e-mail:
| | - Edith Liemburg
- Department of Neuroscience, Neuroimaging Center, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, A. Deusinglaan 2, 9713AW, Groningen,The Netherlands
| | - Ans Vercammen
- Neuroscience Research Australia,Hospital Road, Randwick NSW 2031,Australia
| | - Marte Swart
- Department of Neuroscience, Neuroimaging Center, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, A. Deusinglaan 2, 9713AW, Groningen,The Netherlands;,Lentis, Center for Mental Healthcare,Hereweg 80, 9725 AG, Groningen,The Netherlands
| | - Henderikus Knegtering
- Department of Neuroscience, Neuroimaging Center, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, A. Deusinglaan 2, 9713AW, Groningen,The Netherlands;,Lentis, Center for Mental Healthcare,Hereweg 80, 9725 AG, Groningen,The Netherlands;,Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9700 RB, Groningen,The Netherlands
| | - Richard Bruggeman
- Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9700 RB, Groningen,The Netherlands
| | - André Aleman
- Department of Neuroscience, Neuroimaging Center, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, A. Deusinglaan 2, 9713AW, Groningen,The Netherlands
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Abstract
Recently, it has been proposed that exaggerated top-down processing may generate spontaneous perceptual output, and that this may constitute a cognitive predisposition toward hallucinations. In this experiment, we investigated whether hallucination proneness would be associated with increased auditory-verbal perceptual expectations, and at which processing level this occurs. From 351 undergraduate students screened for hallucination proneness, using the Launay-Slade Hallucination Scale (LSHS), 42 subjects were recruited for participation. Two word recognition tasks were administered, in which top-down influences on perception were manipulated through sentence context (semantic task) or auditory imagery (phonological task). Results revealed that LSHS scores were correlated with the number of semantically primed errors. Subjects with higher levels of hallucination proneness were more likely to report hearing a word that fits the sentence context, when it was not actually presented. This effect remained significant after controlling for general performance on the task. In contrast, hallucination proneness was not associated with phonologically primed errors. We conclude that aberrant top-down processing, particularly in the form of strong semantic expectations, may contribute to the experience of auditory-verbal hallucinations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ans Vercammen
- BCN Neuroimaging Center, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
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