Inner speech models of auditory verbal hallucinations: evidence from behavioural and neuroimaging studies

A range of psychological theories have been proposed to account for the experience of auditory hallucinations in patients with psychosis. Influential amongst these theories are those implicating the defective monitoring of inner speech. Furthermore, self-monitoring and inner speech models have been the most studied using functional imaging. The aim of this article is to review the behavioural and neuroimaging evidence for the impaired monitoring of inner speech in patients who experience auditory verbal hallucinations. A comprehensive literature search was conducted for research investigating inner speech and cognitive self-monitoring models of auditory hallucinations in patients with schizophrenia. The evidence is critically discussed and directions for future investigations are suggested.