DEFINITION
FACTS
TYPES
rTMS AND AUDITORY HALLUCINATIONS SCHIZOPHRENIA
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DEFINITION

Schizophrenia is a serious brain disorder. It is a disease that makes it difficult for a person to tell the difference between real and unreal experiences, to think logically, to have normal emotional responses to others, and to behave normally in social situations.

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FACTS

• 70% of people who suffer from schizophrenia and 15% of people who suffer from mood disorders, such as mania and depression, also suffer from auditory hallucinations.
• Auditory Hallucinations consist of the hearing of voices or noises although nothing tangible is in proximity to the person.
• Signs include talking to oneself and pausing in between, as well as shouting at people who are not there.
• Auditory hallucinations can range from noises such as bangs, whistles, claps, speech, and music. More commonly people hear the voice of one of their family members, friends, a stranger, or even God. The voices can also be thought to originate from such objects such as walls, trees, and shoes.

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TYPES

• Second Person: voices appear to address the individual in the second person. The voice may be speaking to them directly, “you are useless,” or may influence them to perform a specific action, “kill her now.”
• Third Person: voices appear to address the individual in the third person, as if running a commentary. The voices may be commenting on their intended actions, “he wants to hit her,” and current actions, “he is eating now.” This type of auditory hallucination is most suggestive of schizophrenia and affective disorders.
• Echo de la pensee: the individual hears voices that echo thoughts immediately after they have occurred to the person.
• Gedankenlautwerden (to become loud): voices are heard that anticipate thoughts prior to the individual thinking them.

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rTMS AND AUDITORY HALLUCINATIONS SCHIZOPHRENIA

• MindCare Centres has been successful at reducing the number and duration of Auditory Hallucinations in patients. Treatment for AH is conducted on an experimental basis (a cost reduction is offered per session).
• Treatment for AH Schizophrenia consists of a minimum of 10 treatment sessions.
• Treatment for AH Schizophrenia is a highly targeted treatment and patients are required to wear a swim-cap on which specific brain mapping takes place.
• Slow frequency rTMS over the left temporo-parietal cortex, a region that has shown selective activation during auditory hallucinations, has demonstrated a lasting and significant improvement (Hoffman et al., 2003)
• Research trials for AH Schizophrenia have been underway since 1997. At this time, Gellar et al. concluded that 60% of medicated patients with chronic schizophrenia showed some improvement after a single treatment. After two weeks of treatment 70% had moderately or markedly improved.

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EXCERPTS FROM PEER-REVIEWED MEDICAL JOURNAL ARTICLES ON RTMS FOR AH SCHIZOPHRENIA:

• “The purpose of our study is to verify the therapeutic effectiveness of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (low frequency)… Results show a significant improvement that lasted for at least 4 weeks.” (Niederhofer, 2008)
• “The patient’s auditory hallucinations were greatly improved by 80%...more than 1 year later, [the patient] is not receiving any antipsychotic medication, and her Auditory Hallucination Rating Scale (SAPS) scores remain at 0.” (Poulet et al., 2008)
• “Compared to sham, active rTMS significantly improved negative symptoms, irrespective of change in depressive symptoms.” (Goyal et al., 2007)
• "Compared to sham, active rTMS significantly improved Auditory Hallucinations." (Brunelin et al., 2006)
• "Hallucination frequency was significantly decreased during rTMS relative to sham stimulation (p = .0014) and was a moderator of rTMS effects (p = .008). There was no evidence of neurocognitive impairment associated with rTMS." (Hoffman et al., 2005)
• "These data confirm the efficiency of low-frequency rTMS applied to the left temporoparietal cortex, compared with sham stimulation, in reducing resistant Auditory Verbal Hallucinations. This improvement can be obtained in only 5 days without serious initial adverse events." (Poulet, 2005)
• "rTMS appears to have potential as a long-term treatment for patients with auditory hallucinations, but requires ongoing systematic investigation." (Fitzgerald et al., 2006)
• "The present study confirms the reduction in auditory hallucinations by means of rTMS. The main finding was the long-term reduction in auditory hallucinations in the active group, with a return to the baseline in the sham group." (Chibbaro et al., 2005)
• Please contact MCC staff members directly to obtain further details.

Search journal articles on Auditory Hallucination Schizophrenia

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