Abstract
Musical hallucinations (MH) account for a significant proportion of auditory hallucinations, but there is a relative lack of research into their phenomenology. In contrast, much research has focused on other forms of internally generated musical experience, such as earworms (involuntary and repetitive inner music), showing that they can vary in perceived control, repetitiveness, and in their effect on mood. We conducted a large online survey (N = 270), including 44 participants with MH, asking participants to rate imagery, earworms, or MH on several variables. MH were reported as occurring less frequently, with less controllability, less lyrical content, and lower familiarity, than other forms of inner music. MH were also less likely to be reported by participants with higher levels of musical expertise. The findings are outlined in relation to other forms of hallucinatory experience and inner music, and their implications for psychological models of hallucinations discussed.
Highlights
Auditory hallucinations (AH) are defined as the conscious experience of sounds that occur in the absence of any actual sensory input
Given that our main area of interest regarded the phenomenological differences between Musical hallucinations (MH) and other forms of inner music, participants were categorized by the main type of experience they reported
The data suggested that MH are less likely to be experienced by musicians, less repetitive, less likely to include lyrical content, and are described as less likely to be associated with one’s own feelings, compared to musical imagery or earworms
Summary
Auditory hallucinations (AH) are defined as the conscious experience of sounds that occur in the absence of any actual sensory input. Participants were asked to pick a category that they felt best described their inner musical experience (musical imagery, earworm, musical hallucination) based on basic definitions (see Supplementary Materials), or specify that they regularly experienced multiple different types of inner music ( referred to as the ‘mixed experiences’ group). These categories were compared on a number of phenomenological attributes, both based on those reported in previous research, and areas that have not previously been investigated.
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