Scientists Pinpoint Brain Mechanisms Behind Auditory Hallucinations
The new research reveals why people with conditions like schizophrenia hear voices the rest of us can’t.
Traditionally, mental disorders have been categorized under psychological conditions as opposed to neurological ones since they don’t typically involve any visible, physical brain damage. For the same reason, most neuroscience research about mental disorders only investigates changes in a patient’s brain structure and connectivity.
This arrangement means people with certain mental disorders involving auditory hallucinations, like the voices people with schizophrenia can hear but no one else can, have long puzzled scientists. However, new research took a different approach to finding an answer.
Previous Research
To explain why people with schizophrenia and other disorders experience auditory hallucinations, scientists theorized it’s because their brains struggle to distinguish between their inner thought processes and external voices. Yet, how or where, precisely, this misconnect occurs remained unknown.
However, Xing Tian — an associate professor of Neural and Cognitive Sciences at NYU Shanghai and a Global Network Associate Professor for the…
