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Hearing a voice in the noise: auditory hallucinations and speech perception

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2007

A. Vercammen ,
E. H. F. de Haan  and
A. Aleman
A. Vercammen*
Affiliation:
BCN NeuroImaging Center, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands
E. H. F. de Haan
Affiliation:
Helmholtz Research Institute, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
A. Aleman
Affiliation:
BCN NeuroImaging Center, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical CenterUtrecht, The Netherlands
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr A. Vercammen, M.Sc., BCN NeuroImaging Center, A. Deusinglaan 2, 9713 AW Groningen, The Netherlands. (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Background

It has recently been suggested that auditory hallucinations are the result of a criterion shift when deciding whether or not a meaningful signal has emerged. The approach proposes that a liberal criterion may result in increased false-positive identifications, without additional perceptual deficit. To test this hypothesis, we devised a speech discrimination task and used signal detection theory (SDT) to investigate the underlying cognitive mechanisms.

Method

Schizophrenia patients with and without auditory hallucinations and a healthy control group completed a speech discrimination task. They had to decide whether a particular spoken word was identical to a previously presented speech stimulus, embedded in noise. SDT was used on the accuracy data to calculate a measure of perceptual sensitivity (Az) and a measure of response bias (β). Thresholds for the perception of simple tones were determined.

Results

Compared to healthy controls, perceptual thresholds were higher and perceptual sensitivity in the speech task was lower in both patient groups. However, hallucinating patients showed increased sensitivity to speech stimuli compared to non-hallucinating patients. In addition, we found some evidence of a positive response bias in hallucinating patients, indicating a tendency to readily accept that a certain stimulus had been presented.

Conclusions

Within the context of schizophrenia, patients with auditory hallucinations show enhanced sensitivity to speech stimuli, combined with a liberal criterion for deciding that a perceived event is an actual stimulus.

Keywords

Auditory hallucinationsschizophreniasignal detection theory (SDT)speech perception
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 38 , Issue 8 , August 2008 , pp. 1177 - 1184
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 Cambridge University Press

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