Network Localization of State and Trait of Auditory Verbal Hallucinations in Schizophrenia

Neuroimaging studies investigating the neural substrates of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) in schizophrenia have yielded mixed results, which may be reconciled by network localization. We sought to examine whether AVH-state and AVH-trait brain alterations in schizophrenia localize to common or distinct networks.

We initially identified AVH-state and AVH-trait brain alterations in schizophrenia reported in 48 previous studies. By integrating these affected brain locations with large-scale discovery and validation resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging datasets, we then leveraged novel functional connectivity network mapping to construct AVH-state and AVH-trait dysfunctional networks.

The neuroanatomically heterogeneous AVH-state and AVH-trait brain alterations in schizophrenia localized to distinct and specific networks. The AVH-state dysfunctional network comprised a broadly distributed set of brain regions mainly involving the auditory, salience, basal ganglia, language, and sensorimotor networks. Contrastingly, the AVH-trait dysfunctional network manifested as a pattern of circumscribed brain regions principally implicating the caudate and inferior frontal gyrus. Additionally, the AVH-state dysfunctional network aligned with the neuromodulation targets for effective treatment of AVH, indicating possible clinical relevance.

Apart from unifying the seemingly irreproducible neuroimaging results across prior AVH studies, our findings suggest different neural mechanisms underlying AVH state and trait in schizophrenia from a network perspective and more broadly may inform future neuromodulation treatment for AVH.