Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-pfhbr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-14T14:17:06.088Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Relationship between Auditory Hallucinations and Spontaneous Fluctuations of Skin Conductance in Schizophrenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Ruth Cooklin ,
David Sturgeon  and
Julian Leff
Ruth Cooklin
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Health, University College, London, WC1
David Sturgeon
Affiliation:
Department of Mental Health, University College
Julian Leff
Affiliation:
MRC Social Psychiatry Unit, Outstation: Friern Hospital, Friern Barnet Road, London, N11 3BP
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

A sample was collected of schizophrenic patients exhibiting nonverbal signs of intermittent auditory hallucinations. A video-tape record was made for each of a session, during which the patient's skin conductance was monitored. Independent raters achieved reasonable agreement on the onset of periods of hallucinatory activity, as judged from non-verbal signs. The skin conductance tracing was scored independently for spontaneous fluctuations. In the 10 patients with satisfactory records the onset of hallucinatory periods was significantly (P <0.01) associated with a rise in the spontaneous fluctuation rate.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 142 , Issue 1 , January 1983 , pp. 47 - 52
Copyright
Copyright © 1983 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Depue, R. A. & Fowles, D. C. (1975) Electrodermal activity as an index of arousal in schizoprenics. Psychological Bulletin, 79, 323–8.Google Scholar
Frith, C. D. Stevens, M., Johnstone, E. C. & Crow, T. J. (1979) Skin conductance responsivity during acute episodes of schizophrenia as a predictor of symptomatic improvement. Psychological Medicine, 9, 101–16.Google Scholar
Gruzelier, J. H. & Venables, P. H. (1972) Skin conductance activity in a heterogeneous sample of schizophrenics. Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, 155, 277–87.Google Scholar
Slade, P. D. (1972) The effects of systematic desensitization on auditory hallucinations. Behavioural Research and Therapy, 10, 85–91.Google Scholar
Slade, P. D. (1973) The psychological investigation and treatment of auditory hallucinations: a second case report. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 46, 293.Google Scholar
Sturgeon, D., Kuipers, L., Berkowitz, R., Turpin, G. & Leff, J. P. (1981) Psychophysiological responses of schizophrenic patients to high and low expressed emotion relatives. British Journal of Psychiatry, 138, 40–5Google Scholar
Tarrier, B. K., Vaughn, C. E., Lader, M. H. & Leff, J. P. (1979) Bodily reactions to people and events in schizophrenics. Archives of General Psychiatry, 36, 311–15.Google Scholar
Toone, B. K., Cooke, E. & Lader, M. H. (1981) Electrodermal activity in the affective disorders and schizophrenia. Psychological Medicine, 11, 497–508.Google Scholar
Wing, J. K., Cooper, J. E. & Sartorius, N. (1974) The Measurement and Classification of Psychiatric Symptoms. London: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Zahn, T. P., Carpenter, W. T. & McGlashan, T. H. (1981) Autonomic nervous system activity in acute schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 251–8.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.