The DOI matches its Crossref record; 121 of the 123 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Visual Hallucinations in the Psychosis Spectrum and Comparative Information From Neurodegenerative Disorders and Eye Disease
Open accessAbstract
Much of the research on visual hallucinations (VHs) has been conducted in the context of eye disease and neurodegenerative conditions, but little is known about these phenomena in psychiatric and nonclinical populations. The purpose of this article is to bring together current knowledge regarding VHs in the psychosis phenotype and contrast this data with the literature drawn from neurodegenerative disorders and eye disease. The evidence challenges the traditional views that VHs are atypical or uncommon in psychosis. The weighted mean for VHs is 27% in schizophrenia, 15% in affective psychosis, and 7.3% in the general community. VHs are linked to a more severe psychopathological profile and less favorable outcome in psychosis and neurodegenerative conditions. VHs typically co-occur with auditory hallucinations, suggesting a common etiological cause. VHs in psychosis are also remarkably complex, negative in content, and are interpreted to have personal relevance. The cognitive mechanisms of VHs in psychosis have rarely been investigated, but existing studies point to source-monitoring deficits and distortions in top-down mechanisms, although evidence for visual processing deficits, which feature strongly in the organic literature, is lacking. Brain imaging studies point to the activation of visual cortex during hallucinations on a background of structural and connectivity changes within wider brain networks. The relationship between VHs in psychosis, eye disease, and neurodegeneration remains unclear, although the pattern of similarities and differences described in this review suggests that comparative studies may have potentially important clinical and theoretical implications.
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“Although the conventional view focuses preferentially on auditory hallucinations in psychosis, epidemiological evidence indicates that hallucinations in the visual domain are very common in, for example, schizophrenia (13).”
From Shift toward prior knowledge confers a perceptual advantage in early psychosis and psychosis-prone healthy individuals (2015) · cites this paper as [13]
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“The authors reported visual hallucinations with a substantial point prevalence of 27% (Waters et al., 2014).”
From What visual illusions teach us about schizophrenia (2014) · cites this paper as Waters et al., 2014
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Background
Metadata
- Authors
- Waters, F., Collerton, D., ffytche, D. H., Jardri, R., Pins, D., Dudley, R., Blom, J. D., Mosimann, U. P., Eperjesi, F., Ford, S., & Larøi, F.
- Affiliations
- The University of Western Australia (AU)
- Cumbria Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- King's College London (GB)
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Lille (FR)
- University of Groningen (NL)
- University of Bern (CH)
- Aston University (GB)
- Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (AU)
- University of Liège (BE)
- Corresponding author
- Waters, Flavie
- ORCID
- Venue
- Schizophrenia Bulletin
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2014-06-13
- Volume
- 40
- Issue
- Suppl_4
- Pages
- S233-S245
- ISSN
- 0586-7614 (ISSN-L)
- 1745-1701
- PMC
- PMC4141306
- OpenAlex
- W2146834289
- Cited by
- 325
- References
- 123
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 33 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 33 · 2021: 31 · 2020: 37 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 8
- FWCI
- 12.27
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Schizophrenia Bulletin (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- UWA Profiles and Research Repository (UWA) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (publishedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Aston Publications Explorer (Aston University) (submittedVersion)
- Bern Open Repository and Information System (University of Bern) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- ORBi (University of Liège) (submittedVersion)
- University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion)
- Newcastle University ePrints (Newcastle Univesity)
- Open Access CRIS of the University of Bern
- Funders
- Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Hallucinations in medical conditions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
- Keywords
- visual hallucinations, psychosis spectrum
- MeSH terms
- Affective Disorders, Psychotic, Brain, Eye Diseases, Hallucinations, Humans, Schizophrenia, Schizophrenic Psychology, Severity of Illness Index, Visual Cortex, Neurodegenerative Diseases
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