The Neurobiology of Auditory Hallucinations: Characterisation of dysfunction within a neural circuitry model.

这是一项基于我们团队多年广泛研究的高度创新的研究方案。幻听是精神病的一种突出的和潜在的致残症状，然而，对它们进行科学研究是极其困难的。我们小组(以及国际上的其他小组)过去的研究表明，每当出现幻听时，大脑中的一个广泛的网络就会被激活，但这种大脑活动的来源尚不清楚。人们认为，发音的来源可能与产生或监控内心语言的大脑回路相同，但我们过去的研究已经排除了这些可能性。相反，我们最近的工作表明，幻听可能与中枢听觉处理电路中功能不佳的连接有关，特别是在左侧和右侧听觉关联皮质区域之间。我们将幻觉概念化为这种功能障碍导致的一种异常和非自愿的记忆恢复形式。我们的研究将开创测量我们模型中确定的大脑回路连通性的方法，将功能磁共振成像(FMRI)和脑电(EEG)技术与中央听觉处理测试相结合。我们认为，患者可以从了解导致幻觉的物理过程中受益。我们还认为，对幻觉的更好理解可能会导致对精神分裂症和精神病的更好理解，这反过来可能有助于开发出更好的治疗这些疾病的方法。

This is a highly innovative research proposal which is based on years of extensive research by our group. Auditory hallucinations are a prominent and potentially disabling symptom of psychosis, however it is extremely difficult to study them scientifically. Past research by our group (and other groups internationally) has indicated that an extensive network in the brain is activated whenever auditory hallucinations occur, but the source of this brain activity is unclear. It was thought that the source may be the same brain circuits that are involved in generating inner speech or monitoring it, but our past research has ruled out these possibilities. Instead, our recent work suggests that auditory hallucinations may be associated with poorly functioning connections within central auditory processing circuits, specifically between left and right auditory association cortical regions. We conceptualise hallucinations as an abnormal and involuntary form of memory retrieval consequent to this dysfunction. Our study will pioneer methods of measuring connectivity in the brain circuits identified in our model, using a combination of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalographic (EEG) techniques in tandem with tests of central auditory processing. We believe that sufferers may benefit from understanding the physical processes which cause hallucinations. We also believe that a better understanding of hallucinations may lead to a better understanding of schizophrenia and the psychoses, which may in turn help in the development of better ways of treating these illnesses.