Role of Inferior Colliculi in Auditory Hallucinations

Launched by CENTRE HOSPITALIER UNIVERSITAIRE DE NĪMES · Jun 2, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is investigating the role of a specific part of the brain called the inferior colliculi in understanding auditory hallucinations (hearing voices or sounds that aren’t there) in people with schizophrenia. Researchers believe that these hallucinations might come from a problem in how the brain filters out unwanted sounds or thoughts. By studying this area of the brain, they hope to learn more about why some people with schizophrenia experience these symptoms, which could lead to better treatments in the future.

To participate in this study, individuals must be diagnosed with schizophrenia and have experienced hallucinations recently. They need to be able to read, write, and understand French, and should be receiving psychiatric care. There are some specific criteria that would exclude individuals from participating, such as having certain medical conditions or being unable to provide consent. Participants will undergo brain imaging to help researchers gather important information about their symptoms. This trial is still in the planning stages and has not started recruiting participants yet.

Gender

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Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • The patient must have given their free and informed consent and signed the consent form
• • The patient must be a member or beneficiary of a health insurance plan
• • DSM-5 diagnosis of schizophrenic disorder (based on clinical assessment and confirmed by the MINI 7.0 interview)
• • Patient with a schizophrenic disorder lasting ≤ 20 years
• • Patient treated in a psychiatric unit as an inpatient (in non-specialized care) or outpatient
• • Clinical condition compatible with imaging based on clinical judgment
• • Ability to understand, write, and read French
• • Specific inclusion criteria for the group (SCZ+/HA+) • Patient with a PANSS score (question P3 regarding hallucinations) ≥ 4 (corresponds to PANSS (P3) 4, 5, 6, and 7 patients) AND having experienced hallucinations in the past 15 days.
• • Specific inclusion criteria for the control group
• • • Patient with a PANSS score (question P3 regarding hallucinations) = 1) AND having not experienced any hallucinations in the past 15 days.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • The patient is under safeguard of justice or state guardianship
• • Contraindications to magnetic resonance imaging, including severe claustrophobia, based on clinical judgment.
• • Congenital or acquired deafness
• • Suicide risk, based on clinical judgment
• • Patient with moderate to severe intellectual disability, based on medical records
• • Patient with moderate to severe neurocognitive disorders, based on medical records
• • Patient receiving anticholinergic therapy (biperiden-Akineton, trihexyphenidyl-Artane, tropatepine-Lepticur)
• • Patient participating in an interventional study involving a drug or medical device, or a Category 1 RIPH within 3 months prior to inclusion
• • Person under judicial protection
• • Pregnant, parturient, or breastfeeding woman
• • Person unable to express consent