Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 9, 2026
04:47
Olfactory Context Dependent Memory: Direct Presentation of Odorants
Published on: September 18, 2018
Auditory hallucinations: failure to inhibit irrelevant memories
Johanna C Badcock1, Flavie A V Waters, Murray T Maybery
1University of Western Australia, Perth. jobad@cyllene.uwa.edu.au
Cognitive Neuropsychiatry
|March 31, 2006
Summary
Schizophrenia patients experiencing auditory hallucinations (AH) struggle to suppress irrelevant memories. This memory inhibition deficit is linked to the presence of AH, suggesting a key mechanism for this symptom.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- Auditory hallucinations (AH) correlate with memory inhibition efficiency.
- AH may arise from the intrusion of strongly activated memory representations.
- Hypothesis: Inability to suppress irrelevant memories is specific to current AH.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between auditory hallucinations and memory suppression.
- To determine if memory inhibition deficits are present only in schizophrenia patients with active AH.
Main Methods:
- A repeated, continuous recognition task was employed.
- Participants included 23 schizophrenia patients with AH, 20 without AH, and 24 healthy controls.
Main Results:
- Patients with current AH exhibited significantly more false alarms to distractors.
- Healthy controls showed superior target detection (hits) compared to all schizophrenia patients.
- No significant difference in target detection between hallucinating and non-hallucinating patient groups.
Conclusions:
- Current AH is associated with a failure to suppress irrelevant memories.
- A model combining inhibition and episodic memory deficits explains AH.
- This model aligns with the neuroanatomical basis of auditory hallucinations.
Related Concept Videos
01:26Positive Symptoms Schizophrenia: Hallucinations and Delusions
Schizophrenia is a complex psychiatric disorder characterized by a range of symptoms that significantly impact cognition, behavior, and emotional regulation. Among these, the positive symptoms stand out as they involve the addition or exaggeration of normal mental functions, deviating markedly from typical behavior and perception. Hallucinations and delusions are prominent positive symptoms, each profoundly affecting the individual's experience of reality.
Hallucinations
Hallucinations in...
Hallucinations
Hallucinations in...
01:18False Memories
False memories represent a cognitive distortion in which individuals recall events that did not happen, or remember them in an altered form. This phenomenon highlights the brain's constructive nature in processing and recalling memories, emphasizing that memory is not a perfect representation of past events but rather a dynamic reconstruction influenced by various factors.
One primary source of false memories is misattribution, where individuals incorrectly associate external information with...
One primary source of false memories is misattribution, where individuals incorrectly associate external information with...
01:21Forgetting
Forgetting is an intrinsic aspect of human memory, characterized by the gradual loss or inaccessibility of information over time. Hermann Ebbinghaus, a pioneering psychologist, extensively studied this phenomenon and formulated the forgetting curve. This curve illustrates that memory loss occurs rapidly immediately after learning and then decelerates over time. Several mechanisms contribute to forgetting, including encoding failure, storage decay, retrieval failure, and interference.
Encoding...
Encoding...
01:16Interference and Decay
Forgetting is a complex cognitive phenomenon influenced by several factors, among which interference and decay are particularly prominent. These processes explain why individuals often struggle to retrieve specific information from memory, leading to lapses in recall that can be observed in everyday situations.
Interference occurs when competing memories hinder the retrieval of particular information. It can be classified into two types: proactive and retroactive interference. Proactive...
Interference occurs when competing memories hinder the retrieval of particular information. It can be classified into two types: proactive and retroactive interference. Proactive...
01:10Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon
The tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon is a cognitive experience characterized by a temporary inability to retrieve specific information from memory despite having a strong feeling of knowing the information. Although individuals cannot access the target word or detail, they frequently recall related elements, such as its initial letter, syllable count, or context. This partial retrieval often causes frustration, as one might recognize a familiar face or know that a name starts with a specific...
01:30Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia: Hallucinations and Delusions
Schizophrenia is a complex mental health disorder that can manifest with various positive symptoms, including thought, movement, and behavior disorders. These symptoms significantly disrupt cognitive and motor functions, leading to profound effects on an individual's ability to engage with the world.
Thought Disorders
Disorganized and unusual thought processes mark thought disorders in schizophrenia. One key feature is disorganized speech, where an individual's conversation includes loosely...
Thought Disorders
Disorganized and unusual thought processes mark thought disorders in schizophrenia. One key feature is disorganized speech, where an individual's conversation includes loosely...