Spatial externalization of inner verbal thoughts in auditory verbal hallucinations, an fMRI study

Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH), the perception of speech without corresponding external stimuli, are often described as the “voices” of others coming from outside the head. Evidence suggests that AVH results from disorders of inner speech generation (thinking in words) (Stephane et al., 2001) whereby the inner voice associated with verbal thoughts are experienced as that of other (agency externalization) coming from outside the head (spatial externalization). Consistently, cognitive experiments have demonstrated impairment of Self/Other (S/O) distinction of speech agency (Stephane et al., 2010b) as well as impaired distinction between speech experienced in Internal Space and that experienced in External Space— (IS/ES) (Stephane et al., 2010a).
Source: Schizophrenia Research - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Letter to the Editor Source Type: research