Abstract
Auditory Hallucinations (AH) cause substantial suffering and dysfunction, yet remain poorly understood and modeled. Previous reports have linked AH to increases in negative emotions, suggesting a role for the autonomic nervous system (ANS) in underlying this link. Employing an Experience Sampling Method (ESM) approach, 40 individuals with schizophrenia completed a 36-hour ambulatory assessment of AH and cardiac autonomic regulation. Participants carried mobile electronic devices that prompted them to report 10 times/d the severity of their momentary AH, along with a Holter monitor that continuously recorded their cardiac autonomic regulation. The clocks of the devices and monitors were synchronized, allowing for high time-resolution temporal linking of the AH and concurrent autonomic data. Power spectral analysis was used to determine the relative vagal (parasympathetic) contribution to autonomic regulation during 5 minutes prior to each experience sample. The participants also completed interview-based measures of AH (SAPS; PSYRATS). The ESM-measured severity of AH was significantly correlated with the overall SAPS-indexed AH severity, along with the PSYRATS-indexed AH frequency, duration, loudness, degree of negative content, and associated distress. A mixed-effect regression model indicated that momentary increases in autonomic arousal, characterized by decreases in vagal input, significantly predicted increases in ESM-measured AH severity. Vagal input averaged over the 36-hour assessment displayed a small but significant inverse correlation with the SAPS-indexed AH. The results provide preliminary support for a link between ANS regulation and AH. The findings also underscore the highly dynamic nature of AH and the need to utilize high time-resolution methodologies to investigate AH.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 754-763 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Schizophrenia Bulletin |
Volume | 43 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jul 2017 |
Keywords
- schizophrenia
- psychosis
- auditory hallucinations
- autonomic regulation
- arousal
- cardiac
- heart
- stress
- vagal
- experience sampling method
- negative emotions
- heart rate variability
- mobile devices
- SUPERFICIAL WHITE-MATTER
- CLINICAL HIGH-RISK
- EMOTION REGULATION
- INTERNATIONAL CONSORTIUM
- VERBAL HALLUCINATIONS
- DAILY-LIFE
- PERSECUTORY DELUSIONS
- PSYCHOTIC SYMPTOMS
- FUTURE-RESEARCH
- STRESS