Changes in Regional Cerebral Blood Flow of A Depressed Patient Before and During Musical Hallucinations: A Case Report

Abstract

Musical hallucinations (MHs) are a type of auditory hallucination in which music is perceived despite a lack of actual sound. Few reports have described longitudinal neuroimaging findings in different conditions before and during MHs. This report describes a depressed patient whose regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was assessed using single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) before and during MHs. A 72-year-old depressed woman was admitted to our hospital. During the treatment period, she experienced MHs. Then MHs disappeared with treatment of depression or following improvement in the mood. SPECT scans were performed to assess the levels of rCBF in several brain areas before and during MHs. During MHs, rCBF was increased in the basal ganglia, thalamus, amygdala, and parietal lobes. This report suggests that increased rCBF in multiple brain areas, especially in the basal ganglia and thalamus, might be related to the pathophysiology of MHs in depressed patients.