Abstract
Previous studies reported that the volume of the left superior temporal gyrus (STG) is reduced in patients with schizophrenia and negatively correlated with hallucination severity. Moreover, diffusion-tensor imaging studies suggested a relationship between the brain microstructure in the STG of patients and auditory hallucinations. Hallucinations are also experienced in non-patient groups. This study investigated the relationship between hallucination proneness and the brain structure of the STG.Hallucination proneness was assessed by the Launey Slade Hallucination Scale (LSHS) in 25 healthy individuals who varied in their propensity to hear voices. Brain volume and microstructure of the STG was assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Microstructure was examined by conventional diffusion-tensor imaging as well as by neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI). The latter decomposes diffusion-based MRI into multiple compartments that characterize the brain microstructure by its neurite complexity known as orientation dispersion (ODI) and by its neurite density (NDI).Hallucination proneness was negatively correlated with the volume and microstructure (fractional anisotropy, neurite complexity) of the left but not the right STG. The strongest relationship (r = −0.563) was observed for neurite complexity (ODI). No correlation was observed for neurite density (NDI).These findings suggest that there is a relationship between the volume and the microstructure of the left STG and hallucination proneness. Dendritic complexity (but not neurite density) is inversely related to hallucination proneness. Metrics based on multi-compartment diffusion models seem to be more sensitive for hallucination-related neural processes than conventional MRI-based metrics.
Highlights
Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs), or ‘hearing voices’, in the absence of any external auditory stimulus is the most commonly reported symptom of schizophrenia with a prevalence of around 70% (Sartorius et al, 1986)
Several studies implicated the superior temporal gyrus (STG), which is closely associated with speech and language processing
In order to examine the relationship between each single brain measure and hallucination proneness (LSHS) partial correlations controlling for age and education level were performed
Summary
Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs), or ‘hearing voices’, in the absence of any external auditory stimulus is the most commonly reported symptom of schizophrenia with a prevalence of around 70% (Sartorius et al, 1986). AVHs are experienced by a significant minority of the general population (Allen et al, 2012; Beavan et al, 2011; Jardri et al, 2012; Verdoux and van Os, 2002), who are sometimes referred to as healthy voice hearers (HVHs), with an estimated lifetime prevalence of 4% to 15% (Van Os et al, 2009). For this reason, it was proposed that AVHs may represent part of an ‘extended phenotype’ of psychosis (Johns et al, 2004). Several studies implicated the superior temporal gyrus (STG), which is closely associated with speech and language processing
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