Archives of Biological Sciences 2011 Volume 63, Issue 1, Pages: 43-48
https://doi.org/10.2298/ABS1101043P
Full text ( 451 KB)
The neuropsychology of hallucinations
Pavlović D.M. (Institute of Neurology, Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade)
Pavlović Aleksandra M. (Institute of Neurology, Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade)
Lačković Maja (Institute of Psychiatry, Clinical Center of Serbia, Belgrade)
Hallucinations are a psychopathological phenomenon with neuropsychological,
neuroanatomical and pathophysiological correlates in specific brain areas.
They can affect any of the senses, but auditory and visual hallucinations
predominate. Verbal hallucinations reveal no gross organic lesions while
visual hallucinations are connected to defined brain lesions. Functional
neuroimaging shows impairments in modality specific sensory systems with the
hyperactivity of the surrounding cerebral cortex. Disinhibition and expansion
of the inner speech was noted with impaired internal monitoring in auditory
verbal hallucinations. The subcortical areas and modal-specific associative
cortex and cingulate cortex are essential for the occurrence of
hallucinations.
Keywords: Hallucinations, neuropsychology, cognition, brain, internal speech