Psychotic experiences induced in deluded patients using distorted auditory feedback

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Auditory hallucinations are a core symptom of schizophrenia.
• The precise mechanisms underlying auditory hallucinations remain incompletely understood.
• Investigating the impact of altered sensory feedback may offer insights into psychotic experiences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effect of immediate auditory feedback distorted in pitch on patients diagnosed with schizophrenia.
• To explore the relationship between this altered auditory experience and the severity of delusions and hallucinations.

Main Methods:

• Twenty-one patients diagnosed with schizophrenia participated in the study.
• Participants heard their own voice with immediate pitch distortion.
• The frequency of attributing the distorted voice to an external agent was recorded and analyzed.

Main Results:

• Patients frequently reported hearing an "other" voice speaking concurrently with their own.
• The frequency of "other" voice attributions significantly correlated with the degree of pitch distortion (rho = 0.62, P <.01).
• Attribution frequency also significantly correlated with the current severity of delusions (rho = 0.62, P <.01), but not significantly with hallucinations (rho = 0.40) or negative symptoms.

Conclusions:

• "Hallucination-like" reports in this paradigm arise from the interaction of distorted auditory feedback and abnormal belief formation mechanisms in patients with delusions.
• This suggests a close relationship between the formation of delusions and auditory hallucinations.
• The findings highlight the role of perceptual anomalies and belief attribution in the experience of psychotic symptoms.