Contributions of emotional prosody comprehension deficits to the formation of auditory verbal hallucinations in schizophrenia

Deficits in emotional processing have been widely described in schizophrenia. Associations of positive symptoms with poor emotional prosody comprehension (EPC) have been reported at the phenomenological, behavioral, and neural levels. This review focuses on the relation between emotional processing deficits and auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH). We explore the possibility that the relation between AVH and EPC in schizophrenia might be mediated by the disruption of a common mechanism intrinsic to auditory processing, and that, moreover, prosodic feature processing deficits play a pivotal role in the formation of AVH. The review concludes with proposing a mechanism by which AVH are constituted and showing how different aspects of our neuropsychological model can explain the constellation of subjective experiences which occur in relation to AVH.

► Emotional prosody deficits are conceptually linked with auditory hallucinations. ► Emotional prosody and auditory hallucinations are underlied by an overlapping fronto-temporal network. ► Functional and structural abnormalities in the fronto-temporal network are found in hallucinators. ► Deficits in emotional prosody processing explain some phenomenological aspects of hallucinations. ► Cognitive strategies and neurodisruptive treatment can be used to ameliorate hallucinations.