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Cited by 39Hallucinations in medical conditionsSchizophrenia research and treatmentPhonetics and Phonology Research

Voices to reckon with: perceptions of voice identity in clinical and non-clinical voice hearers

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Badcock, Johanna C., Chhabra, Saruchi·2013·Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
DOI 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00114PMC PMC3615181
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Abstract

The current review focuses on the perception of voice identity in clinical and non-clinical voice hearers. Identity perception in auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) is grounded in the mechanisms of human (i.e., real, external) voice perception, and shapes the emotional (distress) and behavioral (help-seeking) response to the experience. Yet, the phenomenological assessment of voice identity is often limited, for example to the gender of the voice, and has failed to take advantage of recent models and evidence on human voice perception. In this paper we aim to synthesize the literature on identity in real and hallucinated voices and begin by providing a comprehensive overview of the features used to judge voice identity in healthy individuals and in people with schizophrenia. The findings suggest some subtle, but possibly systematic biases across different levels of voice identity in clinical hallucinators that are associated with higher levels of distress. Next we provide a critical evaluation of voice processing abilities in clinical and non-clinical voice hearers, including recent data collected in our laboratory. Our studies used diverse methods, assessing recognition and binding of words and voices in memory as well as multidimensional scaling of voice dissimilarity judgments. The findings overall point to significant difficulties recognizing familiar speakers and discriminating between unfamiliar speakers in people with schizophrenia, both with and without AVH. In contrast, these voice processing abilities appear to be generally intact in non-clinical hallucinators. The review highlights some important avenues for future research and treatment of AVH associated with a need for care, and suggests some novel insights into other symptoms of psychosis.

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  • Few reviews about AVHs in a non-clinical sample exist and they were limited in scope, theoretical, or focused on comparison between clinical and non-clinical voice-hearers.

    “in the last decades, there have been few reviews about AVHs in a non-clinical sample, and they were limited in scope (e.g., they focused on specific mechanisms or experience) [38], theoretical, centred on the continuum [14] or focused on the comparison between clinical and non-clinical voice-hearers [20, 39–42].”

    From The “common” experience of voice-hearing and its relationship with shame and guilt: a systematic review (2022) · cites this paper as [40]

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Authors
Badcock, J. C., & Chhabra, S.
Affiliations
The University of Western Australia (AU)
Corresponding author
Badcock, Johanna C.
ORCID
Badcock, Johanna C.
Venue
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2013
Volume
7
Pages
114-114
ISSN
1662-5161 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fnhum.2013.00114
PMC
PMC3615181
OpenAlex
W2060404084
Cited by
39
References
97
Citations by year
2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 3
FWCI
2.56
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UWA Profiles and Research Repository (UWA) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Hallucinations in medical conditions
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Phonetics and Phonology Research
Keywords
auditory verbal hallucinations, vocal identity, voice perception, schizophrenia, voice recognition, speaker discrimination, voice memory, psychotic symptoms, emotional distress, help-seeking

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