Rayner, L.H., Lee, K-H. and Woodruff, P.W.R. (2015) Reduced attention-driven auditory sensitivity in hallucination-prone individuals. British Journal of Psychiatry, 207 (5). 414 - 419. ISSN 0007-1250
Abstract
Background
Evidence suggests that auditory hallucinations may result from abnormally enhanced auditory sensitivity.
Aims
To investigate whether there is an auditory processing bias in healthy individuals who are prone to experiencing auditory hallucinations.
Method
Two hundred healthy volunteers performed a temporal order judgement task in which they determined whether an auditory or a visual stimulus came first under conditions of directed attention (‘attend-auditory’ and ‘attend-visual’ conditions). The Launay–Slade Hallucination Scale was used to divide the sample into high and low hallucination-proneness groups.
Results
The high hallucination-proneness group exhibited a reduced sensitivity to auditory stimuli under the attend-auditory condition. By contrast, attention-directed visual sensitivity did not differ significantly between groups.
Conclusions
Healthy individuals prone to hallucinatory experiences may possess a bias in attention towards internal auditory stimuli at the expense of external sounds. Interventions involving the redistribution of attentional resources would have therapeutic benefit in patients experiencing auditory hallucinations.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2015. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in British Journal of Psychiatry. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > Department of Neuroscience (Sheffield) The University of Sheffield > Sheffield Teaching Hospitals |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 22 Jan 2016 15:46 |
Last Modified: | 30 Nov 2016 01:38 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.114.149799 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Maney Publishing |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1192/bjp.bp.114.149799 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:92994 |