Cognitive profiles in psychosis: comparing those experiencing uni- or multisensory versus multimodal hallucinations

Introduction: A vast body of cognitive research in psychosis has focused on auditory hallucinations, though more recent studies are turning towards other sensory modalities. This study aimed to compare the cognitive profile of persons experiencing uni- or multisensory versus multimodal hallucinations.

Methods: Participants with primary diagnosis of a psychotic disorder were subdivided into those experiencing uni- or multisensory (UMS; n = 31) versus multimodal (MM; n = 28) hallucinations relative to non-clinical controls (NC; n = 32). Cognitive assessment comprised the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery, supplemented by a Colour Word Interference Test. Analyses of variance (ANOVAs) and correlation analyses were performed.

Results: The UMS and MM groups performed significantly worse than the NC group on some cognitive domains (i.e. speed of processing, attention/vigilance, working memory, verbal learning), but not others (i.e. reasoning and problem-solving, social cognition). For visual learning, the MM group performed significantly worse than the NC group only, whereas for inhibition, the UMS group performed significantly worse than the NC group only.

Conclusion: A novel cognitive profile associated with multimodal hallucinations was documented. Dissociation between performance of the two clinical groups on visual learning and inhibition suggests these cognitive domains may be of relevance to hallucinations, pending further investigations.