A relationship of sorts: gender and auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia spectrum disorders

Suessenbacher-Kessler, Stefanie; Gmeiner, Andrea; Diendorfer, Tamara; Schrank, Beate; Unger, Annemarie; Amering, Michaela

doi:10.1007/s00737-021-01109-4

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 66 publications

(77 reference statements)

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“…It As age (Cohen, Izediuno, Yadack, Ghosh, & Garrett, 2014), gender (Suessenbacher-Kessler et al, 2021), and antipsychotics (Johnsen, Hugdahl, Fusar-Poli, Kroken, & Kompus, 2013) are likely to contribute to the baseline as well as change in the symptom scores with HD-tDCS, spearman correlation was done to establish any associations among them. No significant correlation was observed among the variables.…”

Section: Electric Field Simulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neurobiological and clinical effects of High-Definition tDCS on persistent auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia: A randomized controlled trial

Parlikar

Chhabra

Selvaraj

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Background High-definition transcranial direct current stimulation (HD-tDCS) is a potential add-on treatment for persistent auditory hallucinations (AH). However, the lack of evidence from methodical studies implores the need for a systematic evaluation to ascertain its effectiveness. Aim To examine the clinical and neurobiological role of HD-tDCS in the alleviation of persistent AH and the persistence of its effects in patients with schizophrenia in a double-blinded, sham-controlled study with concurrent resting state fMRI data. Methods Thirty-four patients with persistent AH were randomized into a TRUE or SHAM arm for five days of the RCT phase (with concurrent resting state fMRI imaging data at baseline and post-RCT), followed by an open-label extension phase of 5 days of TRUE HD-tDCS. In the RCT phase, patients received -2mA current in the TRUE arm and feeble current mimicking sensory effects in the SHAM arm using the 4 X 1 montage at the left temporo-parietal junction (l-TPJ) using subject-specific neuro-navigation. AH severity was assessed using the PSYRATS Auditory Hallucination Rating Scale (AHS) at baseline, after RCT, after the end of the open-label, and then by 1st and 3rd-month following the last HD-tDCS session. The electric field (EF) was estimated at the region of interest using a simulation technique to further explore the neurobiological effects between the TRUE versus the SHAM group, Results A significant difference in the neuro-modulatory effect was seen in the neuroimaging analysis at the l-TPJ secondary to the TRUE compared to SHAM HD-tDCS after five days of RCT. At the follow-up, subjects in the SHAM who crossed over to TRUE HD-tDCS significantly improved in AH scores compared to patients who received ten days of TRUE HD-tDCS (T=2.95, p<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in AH scores between the TRUE and SHAM arm at the end of 5 days of RCT and immediately after five days of additional open-label HD-tDCS. In the simulation analysis, differences were noted in the TRUE (EF= 0.22 V/m) versus the feeble current SHAM arm group. It was interesting to observe, that though feeble in magnitude, SHAM current also created a local electric field (EF= 0.007 V/m). Conclusions Five days of TRUE cathodal HD-tDCS administered to alleviate AH causes cortical effects of interest. Neuromodulatory effects preceded by clinical effects suggest possible clinical latency. Significant improvement in SHAM succeeding TRUE HD-tDCS compared to the ten days of TRUE HD-tDCS suggests the possibility of long-term effects of HD-tDCS acting through mechanisms like homeostatic meta-plasticity. Additional evidence in support of the probable priming effects is the ROI-based electric field simulation showing the generation of local electric field secondary to feeble current in the SHAM arm. Hence sham current with low EF when followed by TRUE current with higher magnitude EF showed enhanced inhibition as compared to the group that followed 10 days of TRUE current further supporting homeostatic meta-plasticity mechanisms.

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Section: Electric Field Simulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neurobiological and clinical effects of High-Definition tDCS on persistent auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia: A randomized controlled trial

Parlikar

Chhabra

Selvaraj

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…Hallucinatory experiences are usually associated with distress ( 1 ) and interfere with the social and professional functioning of those who experience them ( 2 ). They are also a source of anguish to patients of schizophrenia ( 3 ), almost in a third of cases are resistant to medication ( 4 ), and can eventually lead to harm to the patients or others and even to suicide ( 5 ). However, clinicians’ most important intervention to reduce schizophrenia patients’ hallucinations is medication treatments that often have side effects and do not help all ( 2 ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Attentional Avoidance, Attentional Focusing, and Mindfulness on the Frequency of Voice-Hearing and Associated Distress in People with Schizophrenia: A randomized Controlled Trial

Madani

Sabet

Borjali

2023

IJPS

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Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the most effective coping mechanism to deal with auditory hallucinations that reduces the frequency of voice-hearing and associated distress. In the present randomized controlled trial, each of the three coping mechanisms of attentional avoidance, attentional focusing, and mindfulness were used in one group and the fourth group was the control group. Method: A total of 64 patients with schizophrenia, categorized in three groups of attentional avoidance, attentional focusing and mindfulness and one control group, were asked to listen to an ambiguous auditory task depending on the type of their coping mechanism. After determining the baseline of distress, the task was performed in duplicate for each group. After playing the auditory task for the first time, participants were asked to rate out the level of their distress and compliance with instructions, and they were asked to estimate the likely number of words they had heard. After the second time, they were asked to note the words they hear during the task and rate out their distress and compliance with instructions again at the end of the task. Results: There was a significant difference between groups in terms of distress with a medium effect size of 0.47. The post hoc analysis revealed that mindfulness group reported less distress compared to the attentional focusing group (P = 0.017) and the control group (P = 0.027). Also, a significant difference existed between groups in terms of the frequency of the identified words, with a moderately strong effect size of 0.59, and a very good statistical power of 0.99. The post hoc analysis showed that attentional avoidance (P = 0.013) and attentional focusing (P = 0.011) groups heard fewer words than the control group. Conclusion: Attention is a good target for treating psychotic patients with auditory hallucinations. Also, manipulation of attention can affect the frequency of auditory hallucinations and associated distress.

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A relationship of sorts: gender and auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia spectrum disorders

Cited by 2 publications

References 66 publications

Neurobiological and clinical effects of High-Definition tDCS on persistent auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia: A randomized controlled trial

Neurobiological and clinical effects of High-Definition tDCS on persistent auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia: A randomized controlled trial

The Effect of Attentional Avoidance, Attentional Focusing, and Mindfulness on the Frequency of Voice-Hearing and Associated Distress in People with Schizophrenia: A randomized Controlled Trial

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