A recent study has shed light on the causes behind the auditory hallucinations often experienced by people with schizophrenia. For years, scientists believed that hearing voices was the result of an overactive imagination. However, researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and New York University Shanghai, led by Chen Zhang and Xing Tian, have now found that auditory hallucinations stem from a disruption in the brain's ability to process and predict sensory information.
Understanding Auditory Hallucinations The new research challenges the long-standing belief that auditory hallucinations are purely imaginative. Instead, it explains that these hallucinations are due to biological processes involving a complex interaction between the brain's motor and sensory systems. The study highlights that the brain’s impaired ability to plan and predict sensory information may be at the root of these symptoms.
The researchers conducted the study on two groups of schizophrenia patients: one group that experienced auditory verbal hallucinations and another that did not. The differences in brain function between the two groups were closely examined to understand the underlying mechanisms. How the Study Was Conducted Participants in the study were placed in scenarios where they were asked to speak, both in situations where they were prepared to speak and where they were not given prior notice.
As the participants spoke, researchers played sounds and measured the brain.