Browsing by Subject "Hallucinations"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Genome-wide association identifies the first risk loci for psychosis in Alzheimer disease
    (Springer Nature, 2021) DeMichele-Sweet, Mary Ann A.; Klei, Lambertus; Creese, Byron; Harwood, Janet C.; Weamer, Elise A.; McClain, Lora; Sims, Rebecca; Hernandez, Isabel; Moreno-Grau, Sonia; Tárraga, Lluís; Boada, Mercè; Alarcón-Martín, Emilio; Valero, Sergi; NIA-LOAD Family Based Study Consortium; Alzheimer’s Disease Genetics Consortium (ADGC); Liu, Yushi; Hooli, Basavaraj; Aarsland, Dag; Selbaek, Geir; Bergh, Sverre; Rongve, Arvid; Saltvedt, Ingvild; Skjellegrind, Håvard K.; Engdahl, Bo; Stordal, Eystein; Andreassen, Ole A.; Djurovic, Srdjan; Athanasiu, Lavinia; Seripa, Davide; Borroni, Barbara; Albani, Diego; Forloni, Gianluigi; Mecocci, Patrizia; Serretti, Alessandro; De Ronchi, Diana; Politis, Antonis; Williams, Julie; Mayeux, Richard; Foroud, Tatiana; Ruiz, Agustín; Ballard, Clive; Holmans, Peter; Lopez, Oscar L.; Kamboh, M. Ilyas; Devlin, Bernie; Sweet, Robert A.; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    Psychotic symptoms, defined as the occurrence of delusions or hallucinations, are frequent in Alzheimer disease (AD with psychosis, AD + P). AD + P affects ~50% of individuals with AD, identifies a subgroup with poor outcomes, and is associated with a greater degree of cognitive impairment and depressive symptoms, compared to subjects without psychosis (AD - P). Although the estimated heritability of AD + P is 61%, genetic sources of risk are unknown. We report a genome-wide meta-analysis of 12,317 AD subjects, 5445 AD + P. Results showed common genetic variation accounted for a significant portion of heritability. Two loci, one in ENPP6 (rs9994623, O.R. (95%CI) 1.16 (1.10, 1.22), p = 1.26 × 10-8) and one spanning the 3'-UTR of an alternatively spliced transcript of SUMF1 (rs201109606, O.R. 0.65 (0.56-0.76), p = 3.24 × 10-8), had genome-wide significant associations with AD + P. Gene-based analysis identified a significant association with APOE, due to the APOE risk haplotype ε4. AD + P demonstrated negative genetic correlations with cognitive and educational attainment and positive genetic correlation with depressive symptoms. We previously observed a negative genetic correlation with schizophrenia; instead, we now found a stronger negative correlation with the related phenotype of bipolar disorder. Analysis of polygenic risk scores supported this genetic correlation and documented a positive genetic correlation with risk variation for AD, beyond the effect of ε4. We also document a small set of SNPs likely to affect risk for AD + P and AD or schizophrenia. These findings provide the first unbiased identification of the association of psychosis in AD with common genetic variation and provide insights into its genetic architecture.
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    Keeping the inner voice inside the head, a pilot fMRI study
    (Wiley, 2021-04) Stephane, Massoud; Dzemidzic, Mario; Yoon, Gihyun; Psychiatry, School of Medicine
    Introduction: The inner voice is experienced during thinking in words (inner speech) and silent reading and evokes brain activity that is highly similar to that associated with external voices. Yet while the inner voice is experienced in internal space (inside the head), external voices (one's own and those of others) are experienced in external space. In this paper, we investigate the neural basis of this differential spatial localization. Methods: We used fMRI to examine the difference in brain activity between reading silently and reading aloud. As the task involved reading aloud, data were first denoised by removing independent components related to head movement. They were subsequently processed using finite impulse response basis function to address the variations of the hemodynamic response. Final analyses were carried out using permutation-based statistics, which is appropriate for small samples. These analyses produce spatiotemporal maps of brain activity. Results: Reading silently relative to reading aloud was associated with activity of the "where" auditory pathway (Inferior parietal lobule and middle temporal gyrus), and delayed activity of the primary auditory cortex. Conclusions: These pilot data suggest that internal space localization of the inner voice depends on the same neural resources as that for external space localization of external voices-the "where" auditory pathway. We discuss the implications of these findings on the possible mechanisms of abnormal experiences of the inner voice as is the case in verbal hallucinations.
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    The Self, Agency and Spatial Externalizations of Inner Verbal Thoughts, and Auditory Verbal Hallucinations
    (Frontiers Media, 2019-09-19) Stephane, Massoud; Psychiatry, School of Medicine
    Aim: Auditory Verbal Hallucinations (AVH) are experienced as the "voices" of others (O-AVH) or self (S-AVH) in internal space/inside the head (IS-AVH) or external space (ES-AVH), and are considered to result from agency and spatial externalizations of inner speech. Both types of externalizations are conflated, and the relationship between these externalizations and AVH experiences is unclear. In this paper, I investigate the relationship between cognitive agency and spatial externalizations and between these externalizations and the types of AVH experience. Method: Twenty-five patients with history of AVH and 24 matched healthy controls performed agency and spatial distinction tasks: distinction between self-generated (read) (S) sentences and other-generated (O) sentences, and between sentences read silently (experienced in internal space, IS) and sentences read aloud (experienced in external space, ES). Regression analyses between misattribution biases (S-O vs. IS-ES, and O-S vs. ES-IS) were obtained. t tests were used to compare misattribution biases between AVH subtypes (S-AVH vs. O-AVH, and IS-AVH vs. ES-AVH). Results: Regressions suggest that agency distinction is independent from spatial distinction in both groups. O-AVH and S-AVH subgroups differed only with respect to S-O bias, and IS-AVH and ES-AVH subgroups differed only with respect to IS-ES bias. Conclusion: These results suggest that agency and spatial externalizations of inner speech are independent at phenomenological and cognitive and levels; and that these externalizations are co-related across levels. I discuss the implications of these findings in the wider context of research on AVH and on the experience of self.