Cerebral Cortex January 2004; 14:91-96
© Oxford University Press 2004
Neuroanatomy of Hearing Voices: A Frontotemporal Brain Structural Abnormality Associated with Auditory Hallucinations in Schizophrenia
1 Department of Psychiatry, University of Jena, Philosophenweg 3, D-07743 Jena, Germany, 2 Department of Neurology, University of Hamburg, Martinistr. 52, D-20246 Hamburg, Germany, *These two authors contributed equally to the study
Auditory hallucinations are a frequent symptom in schizophrenia. While functional imaging studies have suggested the association of certain patterns of brain activity with sub-syndromes or single symptoms (e.g. positive symptoms such as hallucinations), there has been only limited evidence from structural imaging or post-mortem studies. In this study, we investigated the relation of local brain structural deficits to severity of auditory hallucinations, particularly in perisylvian areas previously reported to be involved in auditory hallucinations. In order to overcome certain limitations of conventional volumetric methods, we used deformation-based morphometry (DBM), a novel automated whole-brain morphometric technique, to assess local gray and white matter deficits in structural magnetic resonance images of 85 schizophrenia patients. We found severity of auditory hallucinations to be significantly correlated (P < 0.001) with volume loss in the left transverse temporal gyrus of Heschl (primary auditory cortex) and left (inferior) supramarginal gyrus, as well as middle/inferior right prefrontal gyri. This demonstrates a pattern of distributed structural abnormalities specific for auditory hallucinations and suggests hallucination-specific alterations in areas of a frontotemporal network for processing auditory information and language.
![]()
CiteULike
Connotea
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
K. Schnell, K. Heekeren, J. Daumann, T. Schnell, R. Schnitker, W. Moller-Hartmann, and E. Gouzoulis-Mayfrank Correlation of passivity symptoms and dysfunctional visuomotor action monitoring in psychosis Brain, August 19, 2008; (2008) awn184v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
H. Picard, I. Amado, S. Mouchet-Mages, J.-P. Olie, and M.-O. Krebs The Role of the Cerebellum in Schizophrenia: an Update of Clinical, Cognitive, and Functional Evidences Schizophr Bull, January 1, 2008; 34(1): 155 - 172. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
G. Douaud, S. Smith, M. Jenkinson, T. Behrens, H. Johansen-Berg, J. Vickers, S. James, N. Voets, K. Watkins, P. M. Matthews, et al. Anatomically related grey and white matter abnormalities in adolescent-onset schizophrenia Brain, September 1, 2007; 130(9): 2375 - 2386. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
L. Marti-Bonmati, J. J. Lull, G. Garcia-Marti, E. J. Aguilar, D. Moratal-Perez, C. Poyatos, M. Robles, and J. Sanjuan Chronic Auditory Hallucinations in Schizophrenic Patients: MR Analysis of the Coincidence between Functional and Morphologic Abnormalities Radiology, August 1, 2007; 244(2): 549 - 556. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
S. Papapetropoulos Regional Alpha-Synuclein Aggregation, Dopaminergic Dysregulation, and the Development of Drug-Related Visual Hallucinations in Parkinson's Disease J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci, May 1, 2006; 18(2): 149 - 157. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||



