The Changing Face of Hallucination Research: The International Consortium on Hallucination Research (ICHR) 2015 Meeting Report: Table 1.

Abstract

a public conference in which research findings were considered in relation to subjective experience and practice, 9 multidisciplinary working groups examined key current issues in progressing the conceptualization and research of hallucinations. Work group topics included: multicenter validation of the transdiagnostic and multimodal Questionnaire for Psychotic Experiences; development of an improved outcome measure for psychological therapies; the relationship between inhibition and hallucinations across multiple levels of explanation; hallucinations in relation to sleep phenomena; emotion and hallucinations; multiple interactions between the experience of self and hallucinations; interactions between language, auditory and memory networks; resting state networks including the default mode; and analyses arising from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data-sharing. Major themes in hallucinations research identified during the meeting included (1) progression beyond the auditory verbal modality in schizophrenia to consider hallucinations across modalities and different populations; (2) development of new measures; (3) the central role of multisite collaboration through shared data collection and data pooling; (4) study of time-based and interactive models of hallucination; and (5) the need to increase the accessibility and availability of "real-life" interventions for people with persisting and distressing hallucinations. Prior to the ICHR meeting, a public conference was held, titled Hearing Voices and Hallucinations: Research Practice and Recovery, with a format deliberately designed to encourage dialogue between people who experience hallucinations, scientists and practitioners. Our discussions raised a number of issues which included: the frequent neglect of positive aspects of voice hearing; the potentially therapeutic and transformative aspects of exploring meaning associated with voice content; and advantages of integrating cognitive models with subjective experience. A particular topic of discussion was the current lack of access to nonpharmacological interventions for hallucinations, with there being wide agreement on the need to improve the availability of alternative interventions.The next 2 days comprised a meeting of the working groups to review their main findings, consider recent trends, and solicit new collaborations. The working

Modality-Dependent Impact of Hallucinations on Low-Frequency Fluctuations in Schizophrenia

“…Our current analysis and these proposed future analyses would be in line with proposed initiatives of the 2015 International Consortium on Hallucination Research, which called for progression in research beyond the auditory modality and to analyze hallucinations impacting various different sensory modalities. 26 To ensure that spurious motion and physiological artifacts did not drive these observed effects, we performed an additional analysis using an identical GLM and data that underwent regression of 6-motion parameters and physiological (white matter and cerebrospinal fluid) signals prior to the ALFF calculation and smoothing. Regressing out these signals prior to group-level analysis (while retaining subject-specific mean FD as a covariate in the GLM) had no significant impact on the major results of this study (supplementary figure 2).…”

Auditory Hallucinations and the Brain’s Resting-State Networks: Findings and Methodological Observations

“…The International Consortium on Hallucination Research (ICHR) is a global network of researchers, clinicians, and people with lived experience of hallucinations that was created to facilitate multisite collaborations. 3 , 4 This ICHR report outlines our current knowledge of the resting state in relation to AH. Although elements of this topic have been reviewed elsewhere, 5 , 6 this report extends prior work by incorporating evidence from a range of methods and populations, including a specific comparison of auditory and visual hallucinations.…”

Autonomic Regulation and Auditory Hallucinations in Individuals With Schizophrenia: An Experience Sampling Study

“…2,5,6 Over the past decade, research and clinical interest in AH has grown considerably, as evident by the advent of The International Consortium on Hallucination Research. [7][8][9] However, despite this surge in research and clinical interests, AH remain poorly understood and modeled, and the neurobiological mechanism underlying them remain largely obscure. 10 One notable characteristic of AH is their "ebb-andflow" nature, with considerable variability both between and within individuals.…”