The Effects of Hallucination Simulations on Neurocognition: An Investigation of Auditory Hallucinations Using the Irrelevant Speech Paradigm
Year: 2006
Type: article
Abstract: Research has made it clear that severe psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, are often associated with deficits in neurocognition. Unfortunately, because of the complicated makeup of most psychiatric disorders, it is challenging to distinguish the nature of the neurocognitive deficits. Recent research has begun to look more specifically at the symptoms of these disorders ( e.g., auditory hallucinations) to examine the specific effects the symptoms have on patients. This research has suggested a link between auditory hallucinations and deficits in attentional inhibition as well as working memory abilities. However, current research has not considered whether the impairments associated with these hallucinations are simply due to auditory distraction. The purpose of the current study was to utilize Salame and Baddeley's irrelevant speech paradigm to investigate the effects of auditory hallucination simulations on the specific cognitive abilities of attention and working memory, and to compare cognitive performances when hearing the simulations to cognitive performances under other auditory conditions. Nonclinical participants used for this study included 125 undergraduate students from the University of Northern Iowa. Participants completed working memory and attention tasks while hearing simulations of auditory hallucinations. Additionally, they performed the tasks while hearing other auditory conditions including silence, white noise, and vocal music. Participants' performance on the working memory and attention tasks while hearing the simulations was compared to their performances under the other auditory conditions. Results revealed that participants performed significantly worse when hearing the hallucination simulations compared to the silence and white noise conditions. No significant differences were found in the vocal music condition when compared to the simulations, indicating that the irrelevant speech effect may account for some of the cognitive deficits noted in patients who experience auditory hallucinations. Clinical implications for treatment of auditory hallucinations are cited, and recommendations for continuation of the current symptom-specific research are presented.
Author: Horsager, Suzanne Adele
Institution: University of Northern Iowa
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7169706692