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‘Seeing voices’: fused visual/auditory verbal hallucinations reported by three persons with schizophrenia‐spectrum disorder
Author(s) -
Hoffman R. E.,
Varanko M.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2006.00791.x
Subject(s) - psychology , visual hallucination , neurocognitive , audiology , perception , cognitive psychology , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , auditory hallucination , psychosis , visual perception , developmental psychology , cognition , neuroscience , psychiatry , medicine
Objective: The neurocognitive basis of verbal/auditory hallucinations remains uncertain. A leading hypothesis is that these hallucinations correspond to ordinary inner speech mislabeled as non‐self. However, some studies suggest pathogenic activation of receptive language neurocircuitry as the cause. A form of visualized verbal hallucinations not previously reported in the literature is described that may shed light on this controversy. Method: Review of three cases. Results: Two patients described visual hallucinations of speech‐like lip and mouth movements fused with simultaneous auditory verbal hallucinations superimposed on perceptions of faces of actual persons in their immediate environment. A third patient described similar experiences incorporated into visual hallucinations of human figures who also exhibited finger and hand movements corresponding to American Sign Language. Conclusion: These fused, multimodal verbal hallucinations seem unlikely to be due to inner speech mislabeled as non‐self, and instead suggest top‐down re‐shaping of activation in visual processing brain centers by pathogenically active receptive language neurocircuitry.