Enhanced cortical effects of auditory stimulation and auditory attention in healthy individuals prone to auditory hallucinations during partial wakefulness

Based on the relationship between cognitive intrusions and auditory hallucinations established by Morrison and Baker (2000) and Morrison, Haddock and Tarrier (1995) the present study examines the possible effect of the repeated suppression of self-discrepant thoughts on the vividness of auditory illusions in a sample from a non-clinical population. Sixty-one participants were randomly assigned to a suppression of thoughts group (n = 31) or a focalization of thoughts group (n = 30) with different levels of self-discrepancy. After carrying out the task over a period of 48 hours, participants were presented with non-vocal auditory stimulation and asked to state whether they heard any verbalizations, and if so, how clearly. Results show how the repeated suppression of self-discrepant thoughts has a considerable effect on the vividness of illusions (F(1, 50) = 16.09; p < 0.001). The implications of these results for psychological therapy are analysed, with special emphasis on the importance of a research line based on acceptance.

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Testing continuum models of psychosis: No reduction in source monitoring ability in healthy individuals prone to auditory hallucinations

Cortex ◽

10.1016/j.cortex.2016.11.011 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 91 ◽

pp. 197-207 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Jane R. Garrison ◽

Peter Moseley ◽

Ben Alderson-Day ◽

David Smailes ◽

Charles Fernyhough ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Source Monitoring ◽

No Reduction ◽

Auditory Hallucinations ◽

Continuum Models ◽

Healthy Individuals

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Competition for neuronal resources: how hallucinations make themselves heard

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.bp.106.022954 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 190 (1) ◽

pp. 57-62 ◽

Cited By ~ 70

Author(s):

Daniela Hubl ◽

Thomas Koenig ◽

Werner K. Strik ◽

Lester Melie Garcia ◽

Thomas Dierks

Keyword(s):

Auditory Cortex ◽

Evoked Potentials ◽

Auditory Evoked Potentials ◽

Primary Auditory Cortex ◽

Auditory Attention ◽

Auditory Hallucinations ◽

Auditory Stimuli ◽

Simultaneous Occurrence ◽

Auditory Verbal Hallucinations ◽

External Stimuli

BackgroundHallucinations are perceptions in the absence of a corresponding external sensory stimulus. However, during auditory verbal hallucinations, activation of the primary auditory cortex has been described.AimsThe objective of this study was to investigate whether this activation of the auditory cortex contributes essentially to the character of hallucinations and attributes them to alien sources, or whether the auditory activation is a sign of increased general auditory attention to external sounds.MethodThe responsiveness of the auditory cortex was investigated by auditory evoked potentials (N100) during the simultaneous occurrence of hallucinations and external stimuli. Evoked potentials were computed separately for periods with and without hallucinations; N100 power, topography and brain electrical sources were analysed.ResultsHallucinations lowered the N100 amplitudes and changed the topography, presumably due to a reduced left temporal responsivity.ConclusionsThis finding indicates competition between auditory stimuli and hallucinations for physiological resources in the primary auditory cortex. The abnormal activation of the primary auditory cortex may thus be a constituent of auditory hallucinations.

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Reduced attention-driven auditory sensitivity in hallucination-prone individuals

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.bp.114.149799 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 207 (5) ◽

pp. 414-419 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Louise H. Rayner ◽

Kwang-Hyuk Lee ◽

Peter W. R. Woodruff

Keyword(s):

Auditory Processing ◽

Therapeutic Benefit ◽

Visual Sensitivity ◽

Auditory Sensitivity ◽

Auditory Hallucinations ◽

Auditory Stimuli ◽

Healthy Individuals ◽

Auditory Condition ◽

Processing Bias ◽

Temporal Order Judgement

BackgroundEvidence suggests that auditory hallucinations may result from abnormally enhanced auditory sensitivity.AimsTo investigate whether there is an auditory processing bias in healthy individuals who are prone to experiencing auditory hallucinations.MethodTwo hundred healthy volunteers performed a temporal order judgement task in which they determined whether an auditory or a visual stimulus came first under conditions of directed attention (‘attend-auditory’ and ‘attend-visual’ conditions). The Launay–Slade Hallucination Scale was used to divide the sample into high and low hallucination-proneness groups.ResultsThe high hallucination-proneness group exhibited a reduced sensitivity to auditory stimuli under the attend-auditory condition. By contrast, attention-directed visual sensitivity did not differ significantly between groups.ConclusionsHealthy individuals prone to hallucinatory experiences may possess a bias in attention towards internal auditory stimuli at the expense of external sounds. Interventions involving the redistribution of attentional resources would have therapeutic benefit in patients experiencing auditory hallucinations.

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Dopaminergic Function in the Psychosis Spectrum: An [18F]-DOPA Imaging Study in Healthy Individuals With Auditory Hallucinations

Schizophrenia Bulletin ◽

10.1093/schbul/sbr195 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 39 (4) ◽

pp. 807-814 ◽

Cited By ~ 52

Author(s):

Oliver D. Howes ◽

Paul Shotbolt ◽

Michael Bloomfield ◽

Kirstin Daalman ◽

Arsime Demjaha ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Imaging Study ◽

Auditory Hallucinations ◽

Healthy Individuals

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Auditory hallucinations and gamma band evoked power in response to auditory stimulation and speech in schizophrenia

International Journal of Psychophysiology ◽

10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2010.06.063 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 77 (3) ◽

pp. 251-251

Author(s):

Crystal M. Villeneuve ◽

Derek J. Fisher ◽

Alain Labelle ◽

Verner J. Knott

Keyword(s):

Auditory Stimulation ◽

Gamma Band ◽

Auditory Hallucinations

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Low-frequency oscillations reflect aberrant tone restoration during the auditory continuity illusion in schizophrenia

10.31234/osf.io/fc4at ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Joseph Wooldridge ◽

Mathis Kaiser ◽

Yadira Roa Romero ◽

L. Riecke ◽

Julian Keil ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Information Processing ◽

Clinical Symptoms ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Auditory Hallucinations ◽

Auditory Information ◽

Healthy Individuals ◽

Low Frequency Oscillations ◽

Healthy Control ◽

Auditory Information Processing ◽

Information Processing Deficits

Patients with schizophrenia (ScZ) often show impairments in auditory information processing. These impairments have been related to clinical symptoms, such as auditory hallucinations. Some researchers have hypothesized that aberrant low-frequency oscillations contribute to auditory information processing deficits in ScZ. A paradigm for which modulations in low-frequency oscillations are consistently found in healthy individuals is the auditory continuity illusion (ACI), in which restoration processes lead to a perceptual grouping of tone fragments and a mask, so that a physically interrupted sound is perceived as continuous. We used the ACI paradigm to test the hypothesis that low-frequency oscillations play a role in aberrant auditory information processing in patients with ScZ (N = 23). Compared with healthy control participants we found that patients with ScZ show elevated continuity illusions of interrupted, partially-masked tones. Electroencephalography data demonstrate that diminished 3 Hz power reflects this elevated continuity perception. This shows that reduced low-frequency oscillations relate to elevated restoration processes in ScZ. Our study indicates that aberrant low-frequency oscillations may contribute to altered auditory information processing in ScZ.

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