ABSTRACT
Auditory hallucinations, one of the most common symptoms in schizophrenia, have eluded a definitive explanation since antiquity. They have been discussed in nearly every conceivable context, from a very private experience to an abnormal brain function in the setting of schizophrenia. Auditory hallucinations occur frequently in hospitalized psychiatric patients and are often torturous because of their highly emotional and personal content. In addition, patients report that they perceive the acoustic quality of auditory hallucinations to be like-and often the same as-real, spoken words. In many cases, patients can point to the direction from where they perceive the voices. One challenge for modern brain research in schizophrenia is as follows: What makes these voices sound so real?
