BACKGROUND The origin of auditory hallucinations, which are one of the core symptoms of schizophrenia, is still a matter of debate. It has been hypothesized that alterations in connectivity between frontal and parietotemporal speech-related areas might contribute to the pathogenesis of auditory hallucinations. These networks are assumed to become dysfunctional during the generation and monitori...

BACKGROUND Strong evidence exists for an association between childhood trauma, particularly childhood sexual abuse, and hallucinations in schizophrenia. Hallucinations are also well-documented symptoms in people with bipolar affective disorder. AIMS To investigate the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and other childhood traumas and hallucinations in people with bipolar affective di...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Hallucinations have been linked to a constellation of cognitive deficits in Parkinson's disease (PD), but it is not known whether multi-modal hallucinations are associated with greater neuropsychological dysfunction. METHODS 152 idiopathic PD patients were categorized based on the presence or absence of hallucinations and then were further subdivided into visual-only (VHonly; ...

Hallucinations rarely occur in individuals with anxiety disorders. This case report describes a 36-year-old male with Social Phobia and Agoraphobia with Panic Attacks who had prominent visual hallucinations that were both distressing and incapacitating. Treatment with sertraline 200 mg/d, clonazepam 1 mg/d, and propranolol 20 mg/day for one month completely resolved both his anxiety and the hal...

Visual hallucinations are well recognized in individuals with low vision and intact cognition (Charles Bonnet syndrome) (Teunisse et al., 1996). Visual hallucinations also occur in those with early manifestations of dementia with Lewy bodies (McKeith et al., 2005) and Parkinson’s disease dementia (Williams and Lees, 2005). Typically, visual hallucinations in these conditions are complex recurre...

BACKGROUND Though infections are associated with psychotic symptoms, whether or not subclinical inflammation is associated with hallucinations is not known in Parkinson's disease (PD). PURPOSE To investigate the association of illusions/hallucinations and plasma CRP levels in PD patients without symptomatic infections. METHODS PD patients not diagnosed as having infections were assessed for...

Objective : Hallucinations are one of the commonest symptoms seen in schizophrenia. This research aimed to study the types and content analysis of various hallucinations seen in patients with schizophrenia. Design: Cross sectional study. Place and duration of study: This study was conducted in a private psychiatric hospital in Mumbai from January 2002 to January 2007. Subjects and Methods: The ...

A number of studies have explored hallucinations as complex experiences involving interactions between psychological, biological, and environmental factors and mechanisms. Nevertheless, relatively little attention has focused on the role of culture in shaping hallucinations. This article reviews the published research, drawing on the expertise of both anthropologists and psychologists. We argue...

BACKGROUND Hallucinations typically are associated with severe psychiatric illness but also are reported by individuals with no psychiatric history. AIMS To examine the prevalence of hallucinations in White and ethnic minority samples using data from the Fourth National Survey of Ethnic Minorities. METHOD Interviews of 5196 ethnic minority and 2867 White respondents were carried out. The re...

Functional hallucinations are hallucinations triggered by a stimulus in the same modality and cooccur with it. They are rare in occurrence; however, their rarity has no significance as psychopathology till date. Also, very little is known about the treatment of such hallucinations. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been tested for several psychiatric illnesses and has a few relative contraind...