Distinguishing the voice of self from others: The self-monitoring hypothesis of auditory hallucination

Abstract

Auditory hallucinations (AH), a psychopathological phenomenon where a person hears non-existent voices, commonly occur in schizophrenia. Recent cognitive and neuroscience studies suggest that AH may be the misattribution of one's own inner speech. Self-monitoring through neural feedback mechanisms allows individuals to distinguish between their own and others' actions, including speech. AH maybe the results of an individual's inability to discriminate between their own speech and that of others. The present paper tries to integrate the three theories (behavioral, brain, and model approaches) proposed to explain the selfmonitoring hypothesis of AH. In addition, we investigate the lateralization of self-other representation in the brain, as suggested by recent studies, and discuss future research directions.