Verbal self-monitoring and auditory verbal hallucinations in patients with schizophrenia

2001 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 705-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. C. JOHNS ◽  
S. ROSSELL ◽  
C. FRITH ◽  
F. AHMAD ◽  
D. HEMSLEY ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Reading Aloud ◽  
Verbal Material ◽  
Button Press ◽  
Self Monitoring ◽  
Sensory Stimuli ◽  
Auditory Verbal Hallucinations ◽  
Response Choice ◽  
Impaired Awareness ◽  
Patient Groups

Background. Contemporary cognitive models of auditory verbal hallucinations propose that they arise through defective self-monitoring. We used a paradigm that engages verbal self-monitoring to investigate this theory in patients with schizophrenia.Methods. Ten patients with auditory verbal hallucinations and delusions (hallucinators), eight patients with delusions but no hallucinations (non-hallucinators), and 20 non-psychiatric control subjects were tested. Participants read single adjectives aloud, under the following randomized conditions: reading aloud; reading aloud with acoustic distortion of their own voice; reading aloud with alien feedback (someone else's voice); and reading aloud with distorted alien feedback. Immediately after articulating each word, participants identified the source of the speech they heard (‘self’/‘other’/‘unsure’), via a button press. Response choice and reaction time were recorded.Results. When reading aloud with distorted feedback of their own voice, patients in both groups made more errors than controls; they either misidentified its source or were unsure. Hallucinators were particularly prone to misattributing their distorted voice to someone else, and were more likely to make errors when the words presented were derogatory. Both patient groups made faster decisions than controls about the source of distorted or alien speech, but faster responses were only associated with errors in the former condition.Conclusions. Impaired verbal self-monitoring was evident in both hallucinators and non-hallucinators. As both groups had delusions, the results suggest an association between delusions and impaired judgements about ambiguous sensory stimuli. The specific tendency of hallucinators to misattribute their distorted voice to someone else may reflect impaired awareness of internally generated verbal material.

Speed, Accuracy, and Efficiency of Judgements of Coincidence between Speech Acts and Auditory Perception during a Delayed Auditory Feedback Paradigm: A Behavioral Study in Patients with Schizophrenia

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-191
Author(s):  
Daniela Hubl ◽  
Nicolas Moor ◽  
Jochen Kindler ◽  
Mara Kottlow ◽  
Thomas Dierks ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Response Bias ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Significant Drop ◽  
Delayed Auditory Feedback ◽  
Self Monitoring ◽  
Patient Groups ◽  
Time Accuracy ◽  
First Rank Symptoms ◽  
Speed Accuracy

The inability to differentiate between one’s actions and their consequences from sensory inputs originating from an alien source might cause classical first-rank symptoms in schizophrenia, such as audio-verbal hallucinations (AVH). We aimed to determine whether patients with or without AVH perform differently in a task challenging the audio-verbal self-monitoring system compared to controls. Controls (n = 21) and schizophrenia patients with (AH, n = 11) and without AVH (NH, n = 9) participated. Subjects had to discern whether they heard a sound they had just uttered with or without delay. Reaction time, accuracy as well as sensitivity and response bias were compared between groups. There were no group effects in reaction time. Controls were significantly more accurate in the detection of delays compared to AH and to NH. However, the most salient observation was that these deficits were not uniformly present, but were selectively elicited by the delay, reducing patients’ response accuracy to chance level. The analysis of the data based on signal detection theory revealed a significant drop in sensitivity in both patient groups compared to the controls, and a response bias: Particularly the patients with AVH seemed to be biased not to consider a delay, rather than falsely signaling a delay. Such a deficit may blur the distinction between external events and self-initiated actions, thus eventually interfering with the patients’ sense of agency.

Impaired verbal self-monitoring in psychosis: effects of state, trait and diagnosis

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 465-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
LOUISE C. JOHNS ◽  
LYNSEY GREGG ◽  
PAUL ALLEN ◽  
PHILIP K. McGUIRE
Keyword(s):  
Source Monitoring ◽  
Reading Aloud ◽  
Auditory Hallucinations ◽  
Affective Psychosis ◽  
Self Monitoring ◽  
Auditory Verbal Hallucinations ◽  
Psychotic State ◽  
External Attribution ◽  
History Of ◽  
On Line

Background. Cognitive models propose that auditory verbal hallucinations arise through defective self-monitoring and external attribution of inner speech. We used a paradigm that engages verbal self-monitoring to examine how deficits in this process are related to symptoms and diagnosis in patients with psychosis.Method. We tested 45 patients with schizophrenia. Fifteen had current auditory hallucinations, 15 had a history of (but no current) auditory hallucinations, and 15 had delusions but neither current nor previous hallucinations. We also tested 10 patients with affective psychosis and current auditory hallucinations, and 20 healthy volunteers. Participants read single adjectives aloud while the source and the pitch of the on-line auditory verbal feedback was manipulated, then immediately identified the source of the speech they heard (‘self’/‘other’/‘unsure’).Results. When reading aloud with distorted feedback of their own voice, patients with schizophrenia who had auditory hallucinations were more likely than controls to misidentify its source as ‘other’. Patients with delusions but no current hallucinations displayed a similar deficit, although there was a trend for this to be less marked. Patients with a history of hallucinations did not differ from controls. Patients with hallucinations in the context of an affective disorder made more unsure responses rather than misattributions.Conclusions. Difficulty with source monitoring was related to the acute psychotic state rather than a predisposition to hallucinations, and was evident in patients with affective psychosis as well as schizophrenia. External misattribution of source may reflect an impairment in verbal self-monitoring and/or the appraisal of ambiguous sensory material.

scholarly journals Inhibitory Top-Down Control Deficits in Schizophrenia With Auditory Verbal Hallucinations: A Go/NoGo Task

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiaoling Sun ◽  
Yehua Fang ◽  
Yongyan Shi ◽  
Lifeng Wang ◽  
Xuemei Peng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Auditory Verbal Hallucinations ◽  
Parietal Area ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Patient Groups ◽  
P3 Amplitude

Objective: Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH), with unclear mechanisms, cause extreme distresses to schizophrenia patients. Deficits of inhibitory top-down control may be linked to AVH. Therefore, in this study, we focused on inhibitory top-down control in schizophrenia patients with AVH.Method: The present study recruited 40 schizophrenia patients, including 20 AVH patients and 20 non-AVH patients, and 23 healthy controls. We employed event-related potentials to investigate the N2 and P3 amplitude and latency differences among these participants during a Go/NoGo task.Results: Relative to healthy controls, the two patient groups observed longer reaction time (RT) and reduced accuracy. The two patient groups had smaller NoGo P3 amplitude than the healthy controls, and the AVH patients showed smaller NoGo P3 amplitude than the non-AVH patients. In all the groups, the parietal area showed smaller NoGo P3 than frontal and central areas. However, no significant difference was found in N2 and Go P3 amplitude between the three groups.Conclusions: AVH patients might have worse inhibitory top-down control, which might be involved in the occurrence of AVH. Hopefully, our results could enhance understanding of the pathology of AVH.

Impaired verbal self-monitoring in individuals at high risk of psychosis

2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (9) ◽  
pp. 1433-1442 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. C. Johns ◽  
P. Allen ◽  
I. Valli ◽  
T. Winton-Brown ◽  
M. Broome ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Self Monitoring ◽  
Auditory Verbal Hallucinations ◽  
Response Choice ◽  
External Attribution ◽  
Very High ◽  
At Risk Mental State ◽  
Subsequent Onset

BackgroundCognitive models suggest that auditory verbal hallucinations arise through defective self-monitoring and the external attribution of inner speech. We used a paradigm that engages verbal self-monitoring (VSM) to examine whether this process is impaired in people experiencing prodromal symptoms, who have a very high risk of developing psychosis.MethodWe tested 31 individuals with an At-Risk Mental State (ARMS) and 31 healthy volunteers. Participants read single adjectives aloud while the source and pitch of the online auditory verbal feedback was manipulated, then immediately identified the source of the speech they heard (Self/Other/Unsure). Response choice and reaction time were recorded.ResultsWhen reading aloud with distorted feedback of their own voice, ARMS participants made more errors than controls (misidentifications and unsure responses). ARMS participants misidentified the source of their speech as ‘Other’ when the level of acoustic distortion was severe, and misidentification errors were inversely related to reaction times.ConclusionsImpaired VSM is evident in people with an ARMS, although the deficit seems to be less marked than in patients with schizophrenia. Follow-up of these participants may clarify the extent to which the severity of this impairment predicts the subsequent onset of psychosis and development of positive symptoms.

scholarly journals Expectancy changes the self-monitoring of voice identity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph F. Johnson ◽  
Michel Belyk ◽  
Michael Schwartze ◽  
Ana P. Pinheiro ◽  
Sonja A. Kotz
Keyword(s):  
Inferior Frontal Gyrus ◽  
Superior Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Button Press ◽  
Self Monitoring ◽  
Auditory Verbal Hallucinations ◽  
Suppression Effect ◽  
Voice Changes ◽  
Voice Morphing ◽  
The Right

ABSTRACTSelf-voice attribution can become difficult when voice characteristics are ambiguous, and functional magnetic resonance imagines (fMRI) investigations of such ambiguity are sparse. We utilized voice-morphing (self-other) to manipulate (un-)certainty in self-voice attribution in a button-press paradigm. This allowed investigating how levels of self-voice certainty alter brain activation in regions monitoring voice identity areas and unexpected changes in voice playback quality. FMRI results confirm a self-voice suppression effect in the right anterior superior temporal gyrus (aSTG) when self-voice attribution was unambiguous. Although the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) was more active during self-generated voice compared to when passively-heard, the putative role of this region in detecting unexpected self-voice changes was not confirmed. Further research on the link between right aSTG and IFG is required and may establish a threshold monitoring voice identity in action. The current results have implications for a better understanding of an altered experience of self-voice feedback leading to auditory verbal hallucinations.

scholarly journals Reaction Time to Visual Stimulus in Firefighters and Healthy Trained Subjects: A Preliminary Comparative Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-77
Author(s):  
Fabrizio Perroni ◽  
Eric Mol ◽  
Anthony Walker ◽  
Calogero Alaimo ◽  
Laura Guidetti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Job Performance ◽  
Stimulus Duration ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cognitive Responses ◽  
Anthropometric Parameters ◽  
Sensory Stimuli ◽  
Post Hoc ◽  
And Control

Background: In order to stay safe, and to successfully complete their work, firefighters have to constantly assess and process large numbers of sensory stimuli and adapt to the inherent risks present in the working environment. Objective: The purposes of the present preliminary study were to analyse the speed of Reaction Time responses (RT) of Italian Firefighters and to compare their cognitive responses with non-firefighting subjects. Methods: Anthropometric (weight, height and BMI) and RT (time-to-completion –TTC-, mean of reaction time –MRT-, and errors made -E-) evaluations were administered at 16 volunteers (Age: 40.3 ± 6.7 yrs; BMI: 23.8 ± 2.3 kg/m2) divided in Firefighters (FG) and Control (CG) groups. RT test consisted of 3 trials (T1 = 1s of stimulus duration and 1s interval between stimulus and the other; T2 = 0.5s of stimulus duration and 1s interval between stimulus and the other; T3 = 0.5s of stimulus duration and 0.5s interval between stimulus and the other). Mann Whitney U test between groups was applied to asses differences (p ≤ 0.05) in TTC, MRT, and E while Friedmann test and Dunn-Sidak post hoc were used to evaluate significant differences in the 3 trials in each variable of each group. Results: No significant differences based on anthropometric parameters were observed between groups. Despite no significant differences emerged for TTC and MRT between groups, we observed significant differences in E between groups (CG = 4; FG =12) and in the 3rd condition in each variable of each group. Conclusion: Workout programs that integrate reaction time training with job performance should be created to increase job performance.

Synthesis of the contingent negative variation brain potential from noncontingent stimulus and motor elements

Science ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 208 (4448) ◽  
pp. 1165-1168 ◽  
Author(s):  
JW Rohrbaugh ◽  
K Syndulko ◽  
TF Sanquist ◽  
DB Lindsley
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Contingent Negative Variation ◽  
Reaction Time Task ◽  
Sensory Stimuli ◽  
Brain Potential ◽  
Motor Processes ◽  
Time Task ◽  
Motor Movements

Slow shifts in brain potential (commonly called the contingent negative variation), obtained during a warned reaction-time task with a foreperiod of 1 second, were compared with waveforms synthesized by the addition of separately obtained potentials associated with individual (nonpaired) sensory stimuli and self-initiated motor movements. The synthesized waveforms match closely the actual contingent negative variation, suggesting that it is constituted largely of separate, noncontingent elements related to sensory and motor processes.

scholarly journals Is there a dysexecutive syndrome?

2007 ◽  
Vol 362 (1481) ◽  
pp. 901-915 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald T Stuss ◽  
Michael P Alexander
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Attentional Control ◽  
Frontal Lobes ◽  
Special Role ◽  
Specific Task ◽  
Attentional Processes ◽  
Supervisory System ◽  
Task Setting ◽  
Patient Groups

The role of the frontal lobes has often been described as a ‘paradox’ or a ‘riddle’. Ascribed to this region has been the loftiest of functions (e.g. executive; seat of wisdom); others contested that the frontal lobes played no special role. There has also been controversy about the unity or diversity of functions related to the frontal lobes. Based on the analysis of the effects of lesions of the frontal lobes, we propose that there are discrete categories of functions within the frontal lobes, of which ‘executive’ functioning is one. Within the executive category, the data do not support the concept of an undifferentiated central executive/supervisory system. The results are better explained as impairments in a collection of anatomically and functionally independent but interrelated attentional control processes. Evidence for three separate frontal attentional processes is presented. For each process, we present an operational description, the data supporting the distinctiveness of each process and the evidence for impairments of each process after lesions in specific frontal regions. These processes and their coarse frontal localizations are energization — superior medial , task setting — left lateral and monitoring — right lateral . The strength of the findings lies in replication: across different tasks; across different cognitive modalities (e.g. reaction time paradigms, memory); and across different patient groups. This convergence minimizes the possibility that any of the findings are limited to a specific task or to a specific set of patients. Although distinct, these processes are flexibly assembled in response to context, complexity and intention over real time into different networks within the frontal regions and between frontal and posterior regions.

scholarly journals Neural indicators of human gut feelings

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Mayeli ◽  
Obada Al Zoubi ◽  
Evan J. White ◽  
Sheridan Chappelle ◽  
Rayus Kuplicki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Minimally Invasive ◽  
Human Brain ◽  
Button Press ◽  
Minimally Invasive Approach ◽  
Human Gut ◽  
Perceptual Accuracy ◽  
Invasive Approach ◽  
Gut Feelings ◽  
Dose Dependent

AbstractUnderstanding the neural processes that govern the human gut-brain connection has been challenging due to the inaccessibility of the body’s interior. In this study, we aimed to identify neural responses to gastrointestinal sensation (i.e., the neural basis of ‘gut feelings’) in healthy humans using a minimally invasive mechanosensory probe. Combining electroencephalography and electrogastrography with signal detection theory measures, we quantified brain, stomach, and perceptual (button-press) responses following the ingestion of a vibrating capsule. The relationship between vibration strength and perceptual sensitivity was evaluated using two stimulation conditions (normal and enhanced). Most individuals successfully perceived capsule stimulation in both conditions, as evidenced by above chance accuracy scores. Perceptual accuracy improved significantly during the enhanced relative to normal stimulation, which was associated with faster reaction time and reduced reaction time variability. Stomach stimulation induced responses in a cluster of parieto-occipital leads near the midline via a late positive potential emerging 300-600 milliseconds after stimulation onset. Moreover, these ‘gastric evoked potentials’ showed dose-dependent increases in amplitude and were significantly correlated with perceptual accuracy. Our findings are consistent with recent neurogastric and optogenetic studies demonstrating a role for posteromedial cortices in gastrointestinal interoception and body dissociation and highlight a unique form of enterically-focused sensory monitoring within the human brain. Overall, these results show that this minimally invasive approach could serve as a useful tool for understanding gut-brain interactions in healthy and clinical populations.Significance StatementThe human brain continuously receives input from the stomach and intestines. These sensations are intuitively incorporated as ‘gut feelings’ into decision-making during daily life, yet we still know very little about how the brain processes gut signals. Here, we developed a minimally invasive approach to studying human gut feelings. In healthy individuals we found that an ingestible vibrating capsule produced reliable changes in both stomach sensation and gastric-evoked brain activity. These changes were significantly associated, in a dose-dependent fashion. We propose that this approach provides an opportunity to better understand the role of gut-related symptoms in human pathological conditions and might yield fundamental insights into how gut feelings are communicated to the human brain.

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