Distinct Relationships Between Visual and Auditory Perceptual Abnormalities and Conversion to Psychosis in a Clinical High-Risk Population

Distinct Relationships Between Visual and Auditory Perceptual Abnormalities and Conversion to Psychosis in a Clinical High-Risk Population Hallucinations are a ubiquitous symptom experienced across psychotic disorders. This symptom, particularly in its auditory form, is widely thought to share a common substrate with other positive symptoms.1 However, only unusual thought content and thought disorganization, not perceptual abnormalities (eg, hyperacusis, illusions, and momentary hallucinations), are associated with conversion to psychosis in clinical high-risk (CHR) populations,2,3 despite the high incidence of perceptual abnormalities.2 Importantly, although the frequencies of auditory and visual perceptual abnormalities in CHR individuals are similar,4 differences in the prevalence of auditory and visual hallucinations in full psychosis5 may suggest distinct neurobiological substrates. Therefore, we hypothesized that auditory and visual perceptual abnormalities would have distinct clinical correlates in CHR individuals.