Selective auditory attention and silence elicit auditory hallucination in a nonclinical sample

Introduction. Several investigations have shown that the occurrence of auditory hallucinations (AH) is not restricted to neuropsychiatric patients. The aim of this study is to analyse the effect of attention and sustained silence on the emergence of AH in a nonclinical sample. Methods. Sitting in a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cognitive neuropsychiatry 2009-01, Vol.14 (1), p.1-10
Main Authors: Knobel, Keila Alessandra Baraldi, Sanchez, Tanit Ganz
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acoustic Stimulation
Activity levels. Psychomotricity
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Attention
Attention - physiology
Auditory hallucination
Auditory Perception - physiology
Biological and medical sciences
Environment
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hallucinations - psychology
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Neuropsychological Tests
Noise
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Silence
Vigilance. Attention. Sleep
Visual Perception - physiology
Young Adult
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Summary:Introduction. Several investigations have shown that the occurrence of auditory hallucinations (AH) is not restricted to neuropsychiatric patients. The aim of this study is to analyse the effect of attention and sustained silence on the emergence of AH in a nonclinical sample. Methods. Sitting in a silent sound booth, 66 adults were studied under different attention demands and then where asked about their auditory perception. Results. While performing a Hanoi Tower in silence, 10.6% of the individuals had hallucination-like perceptions (music, voices, and others). This rate decreased to 6.0% during a visual attention task, but highly increased to 36.4% during auditory attention. Conclusions. Auditory hallucinations may occur in a nonclinical population in a silent environment. Concomitant auditory attention increases both the quantity and the quality of those perceptions.
ISSN:1354-6805
1464-0619
DOI:10.1080/13546800802643590