A psycholinguistic study of auditory/verbal hallucinations: Preliminary findings

TY - CHAP

T1 - A psycholinguistic study of auditory/verbal hallucinations

T2 - Preliminary findings

AU - David, Anthony S.

PY - 2019/1/1

Y1 - 2019/1/1

N2 - Auditory hallucinations, in particular those with a verbal content often referred to as “hearing voices”, are commonly regarded as a characteristic symptom of psychosis. They are assumed to arise from the abnormal activity of the auditory-receptive areas of the cortex. The evidence for this is scanty both in terms of recorded instances of verbal hallucinations occurring as a direct consequence of coarse brain disease and in terms of the detection of functional disturbance coinciding with the hallucination, using electrophysiological and neuroimaging techniques. Other possible sites for the origin of hallucinations are considered such as language-production areas. The neuropsychological literature pertaining to this is reviewed and areas of overlap with studies in psychosis addressed, such as the detection of sub-vocal muscular activity during verbal hallucinations. The hypothesis that these might arise from the right cerebral hemisphere is discussed and subsidiary hypotheses put forward. Other views which point to a link between inner speech, auditory imagery and verbal hallucinations are also reviewed with emphasis on their cerebral bases. An argument is developed which supports the placement of verbal hallucinations and related phenomena within a functional model of language reception and production taken from cognitive neuropsychology. Examples illustrating these phenomena in relation to such a model are presented for their heuristic value. Several testable predictions and avenues for further research are proposed throughout the article which might form the basis of a new branch of neuropsychology, namely, cognitive neuropsychiatry.

AB - Auditory hallucinations, in particular those with a verbal content often referred to as “hearing voices”, are commonly regarded as a characteristic symptom of psychosis. They are assumed to arise from the abnormal activity of the auditory-receptive areas of the cortex. The evidence for this is scanty both in terms of recorded instances of verbal hallucinations occurring as a direct consequence of coarse brain disease and in terms of the detection of functional disturbance coinciding with the hallucination, using electrophysiological and neuroimaging techniques. Other possible sites for the origin of hallucinations are considered such as language-production areas. The neuropsychological literature pertaining to this is reviewed and areas of overlap with studies in psychosis addressed, such as the detection of sub-vocal muscular activity during verbal hallucinations. The hypothesis that these might arise from the right cerebral hemisphere is discussed and subsidiary hypotheses put forward. Other views which point to a link between inner speech, auditory imagery and verbal hallucinations are also reviewed with emphasis on their cerebral bases. An argument is developed which supports the placement of verbal hallucinations and related phenomena within a functional model of language reception and production taken from cognitive neuropsychology. Examples illustrating these phenomena in relation to such a model are presented for their heuristic value. Several testable predictions and avenues for further research are proposed throughout the article which might form the basis of a new branch of neuropsychology, namely, cognitive neuropsychiatry.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85079309582&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.4324/9781315785004-17

DO - 10.4324/9781315785004-17

M3 - Chapter

SN - 9780863773372

SP - 269

EP - 313

BT - The Neuropsychology of Schizophrenia

PB - Taylor and Francis Ltd.

ER -