Neural correlates of the misattribution of speech in schizophrenia

TY - JOUR

T1 - Neural correlates of the misattribution of speech in schizophrenia

AU - Allen, P

AU - Amaro, E

AU - Fu, C H Y

AU - Williams, S C R

AU - Brammer, M J

AU - Johns, L C

AU - McGuire, P K

PY - 2007/2

Y1 - 2007/2

N2 - Background The neurocognitive basis of auditory verbal hallucinations is unclear. Aims To investigate whether people with a history of such hallucinations would misattribute their own speech as external and show differential activation in brain areas implicated in hallucinations compared with people without such hallucinations. Method Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while listening to pre-recorded words. The source (self/non-self) and acoustic quality (undistorted/distorted) were varied across trials. Participants indicated whether the speech they heard was their own or that of another person. Twenty people with schizophrenia (auditory verbal hallucinations n=10, no hallucinations n=10) and healthy controls (n=11) were tested. Results The hallucinator group made more external misattributions and showed altered activation in the superior temporal gyrus and anterior cingulate compared with both other groups. Conclusions The misidentification of self-generated speech in patients with auditory verbal hallucinations is associated with functional abnormalities in the anterior cingulate and left temporal cortex. This may be related to impairment in the explicit evaluation of ambiguous auditory verbal stimuli. Declaration of interest None

AB - Background The neurocognitive basis of auditory verbal hallucinations is unclear. Aims To investigate whether people with a history of such hallucinations would misattribute their own speech as external and show differential activation in brain areas implicated in hallucinations compared with people without such hallucinations. Method Participants underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while listening to pre-recorded words. The source (self/non-self) and acoustic quality (undistorted/distorted) were varied across trials. Participants indicated whether the speech they heard was their own or that of another person. Twenty people with schizophrenia (auditory verbal hallucinations n=10, no hallucinations n=10) and healthy controls (n=11) were tested. Results The hallucinator group made more external misattributions and showed altered activation in the superior temporal gyrus and anterior cingulate compared with both other groups. Conclusions The misidentification of self-generated speech in patients with auditory verbal hallucinations is associated with functional abnormalities in the anterior cingulate and left temporal cortex. This may be related to impairment in the explicit evaluation of ambiguous auditory verbal stimuli. Declaration of interest None

U2 - 10.1192/bjp.bp.106.025700

DO - 10.1192/bjp.bp.106.025700

M3 - Article

SN - 1472-1465

VL - 190

SP - 162

EP - 169

JO - British Journal of Psychiatry

JF - British Journal of Psychiatry

IS - FEB.

ER -