Altered brain responses to emotional auditory stimuli in AVH subjects: an fMRI study

Abstract

Purpose: Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) are a frequently occurring phenomenon in which subjects hear verbal sounds in the absence of any external stimuli. The prevalence of auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia has been revealed in many studies. Healthy subjects may also experience auditory hallucinations without accompanying psychological or neurological disorders, and in rare cases they seek clinical assistance for this emotionally disturbing condition. The aim of this study was to investigate the neural basis of emotional disturbance in auditory hallucinating subjects who do not suffer from any psychological or neurological disorder. Materials and Methods: Fourteen subjects suffering from auditory hallucinations and 15 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were recruited in this study. All participants underwent fMRI in two experimental sessions. In the first experimental session, all participants from both groups listened to pleasant auditory stimuli. In the second session, both groups listened to unpleasant auditory stimuli. The auditory stimuli were obtained from the International Affective Digitized Sounds (IADS). Results: Compared with the healthy control group, AVH subjects exhibited significantly increased activation in limbic, auditory, and frontal regions. Conclusion: Current results suggest that AVH may induce functional reorganization in emotion-related brain regions.

Keywords:

• Auditory neuroscience
• magnetic resonance imaging
• neuroimaging
• visual system

Author contributions

The author confirms sole responsibility for the following: study conception and design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of results, and manuscript preparation.

Disclosure statement

The author declares no conflicts of interest associated with this publication.

Ethical statement

This study has been approved by the Institutional Board Research Ethics Committee (IBR 2019-02) and been performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. All participants gave written informed consent.

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.