An ontogenetic role for Broca's and related speech areas in schizophrenic auditory hallucinations? Evidence from sulcal pits analysis
The pathogenesis of auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH), a core symptom of schizophrenia, is unknown, but there is increasing interest in the possibility that it involves brain structural changes. We used a novel whole brain structural imaging technique, sulcal pits analysis, to measure different parameters of sulcal pits, the deepest points in each fold of the cerebral cortex, in 24 schizophrenia patients with continuous or near-continuous hallucinations (AVH-frequent) and 22 matched patients who had never experienced AVH (AVH-never). A matched group of 58 healthy controls (HC) were also examined. In comparison to the AVH-never patients, the AVH-frequent patients exhibited increased depth of sulcal pits in a region of the left inferior frontal cortex and anterior insula, overlapping with Broca's Area and Brodmann Area 47. A nearly identical result emerged in the comparison between AVH-frequent patients and the HC. These findings suggest that a neurodevelopmentally stable brain structural alteration may contribute to the manifestation of AVH in individuals later diagnosed with schizophrenia. This finding also has relevance for theoretical approaches to AVH, a leading example of which relates them to inner speech.
Authors
- Edith Pomarol‐Clotet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8159-8563)
- Núria Jaurrieta
- Salvador Sarró (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1835-2189)
- Raymond Salvador (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5557-1562)
- Manel Sánchez
- Joan Soler‐Vidal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9809-8477)
- P. McKenna (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8061-7091)
- Pilar Salgado‐Pineda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7720-0885)
- Andriana Karuk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2876-7268)
- María Ángeles García‐León (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9329-3732)
- Mar Fatjó‐Vilas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9963-6241)
- Núria Ramiro
- Emilio J. Inarejos Clemente (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7649-6159)
- Benjamin Navarro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6757-5376)
- Noemí Hostalet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6522-3999)
- Lucila Barbosa
- Paola Fuentes‐Claramonte (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1428-7976)
- Pablo Del Olmo-Encabo
- Llanos Torres
- Crispin Corte
- Yasser Alemán‐Gómez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6067-8639)
- Inés Begoña Hoyas
- Cristian Caride-Padilla
- Laura Bucur
Institutions
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CH)
- Fidmag Sisters Hospitallers (ES)
- Hospital Mare de Déu de la Mercè (ES)
- Universidad de Sevilla (ES)
- University of Lausanne (CH)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Psychiatry Research
- Published
- 2025-04-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2025.116502
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Schizophrenia research and treatment
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 4.41
Funders
- Generalitat de Catalunya
- Fundación Bancaria Caixa d'Estalvis i Pensions de Barcelona
- Instituto de Salud Carlos III