Understanding auditory verbal hallucinations: a systematic review of current evidence

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) are core features of psychotic illness and remain significant in predicting poor outcome and risk. There has been a wide range of approaches to understanding these experiences. METHOD: A systematic literature review summarizing different methods of investigation and their results; phenomenology, descriptive psychopathology, psychological, cognitive neurobiology, and neuroimaging. RESULTS: A number of 764 papers and texts were screened and 113 reviewed. Phenomenological studies are comparably few in number, and psychopathology remains based on concepts defined in the early 20th century. Psychological models focus on voice content and emotional ..