Episodic memory dysfunction as a basis for auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia

Funding Activity

Website
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/114283

Funding Status
Closed

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Funded Activity Summary

Auditory hallucinations (AHs) occur frequently in people who suffer from schizophrenia. This symptom usually involves hearing voices that the hallucinator firmly believes originate from other people. The voices are often intrusive, abusive and persecutory. They are a source of significant stress and may result in self harm or harm to others. Our investigations will attempt to provide experimental support for the theory that AHs represent a misremembering of voices which were heard in the past. We will do this by attempting to characterise specific problems that hallucinators have in identifying when they heard verbal fragments and who said them. We plan to conduct our investigations at five levels. First, we will determine how accurate hallucinators' memories are for context by the use of special neuropsychological tests. Second, we will find out if hallucinators form more false memories than comparison subjects using a test in which such incorrect recollections occur commonly. Third, we will determine if hallucinators have a tendency to reconstruct the characteristics of false verbal memories in the same way that they reconstruct the characteristics of their hallucinations. Fourth, we will attempt to suppress these false verbal memories and finally, we will characterise those brain regions which are activated during true and false memory formation by using blood flow analysis technology in order to identify networks of brain activity which preferentially malfunction in hallucinating patients. This study provides the prospect of adding substantially to our understanding of the mechanisms underlying auditory hallucinations and to lead to the development of new cognitively-based treatments for the symptom.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2000

End Date: 01-01-2002

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $278,517.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Psychiatry

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

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Other Keywords

auditory hallucinations | positron emission tomography | psychiatry | schizophrenia | verbal episodic memory

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