Professor Sonia Dollfus said: "Auditory Verbal Hallucinations, or "hearing voices" can be a disturbing symptom of schizophrenia, both for patients and for those close to sufferers. This is the first controlled trial to show an improvement in these patients by targeting a specific area of the brain and using high frequency TMS. This means two things; firstly it seems that we now can say with some certainty that we have found a specific anatomical area of the brain associated with auditory verbal hallucinations in schizophrenia. Secondly, we have shown that treatment with high frequency TMS makes a difference to at least some sufferers, although there is a long way to go before we will know if TMS is the best route to treat these patients in the long-term".

Commenting, Professor Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg, Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim and member of the ECNP executive board, said: "This work builds on previous studies that have shown a critical role of excessive activity of subregions of the temporal lobe in the generation of voice hallucinations in schizophrenia. To move this into treatment, controlled trial such as the one by Dollfus and coworkers are important. While response rates were moderate, TMS is a welcome addition to the therapeutic repertoire especially for patients who do not respond to medication."


NOTE: The full title of this release is "Scientists discover brain area which can be targeted for treatment in patients with schizophrenia who 'hear voices'" It has been shortened in some versions to comply with Eurekalert title limits.

*This work has been accepted in the peer-reviewed journal Schizophrenia Bulletin: The Journal of Psychoses and Related Disorders. The exact publication date has still to be determined.

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