title: The functional anatomy and connectivity of thought insertion and alien control of movement.
abstract: Alien control phenomena are symptoms reported by patients with schizophrenia whereby feelings of control and ownership of thoughts and movements are lost. Comparable alien control experiences occur in culturally influenced dissociative states. We used fMRI and suggestions for automatic writing in highly hypnotically suggestible individuals to investigate the neural underpinnings of alien control. Targeted suggestions selectively reduced subjective ratings of control and ownership for both thought and movement. Thought insertion (TI) was associated with reduced activation of networks supporting language, movement, and self-related processing. In contrast, alien control of writing movement was associated with increased activity of a left-lateralised cerebellar-parietal network and decreased activity in brain regions involved in voluntary movement, including sensory-motor hand areas and the thalamus. Both experiences involved a reduction in activity of left supplementary motor area (SMA) and were associated with altered functional connectivity (FC) between SMA and brain regions involved in language processing and movement implementation. Collectively these results indicate the SMA plays a central role in alien control phenomena as a high level executive system involved in the sense that we control and own our thoughts and movements.
authors.affiliation: Cultural and Social Neuroscience Research Group, Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Kings College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, London, UK; Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK. Electronic address: eamonn.walsh@kcl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Eamonn
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.affiliation: Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, UK.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Oakley
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, Cardiff University, UK.
authors.forename: Peter W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Halligan
authors.affiliation: Cultural and Social Neuroscience Research Group, Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences, Kings College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, London, UK.
authors.forename: Mitul A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.affiliation: Cultural and Social Neuroscience Research Group, Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Kings College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, London, UK; South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Bethlem Royal Hospital, Beckenham, Kent, UK.
authors.forename: Quinton
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Deeley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003702:Delusions / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology*; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013404:Suggestion; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Alien control of movement (ACM); Automatic writing; Functional connectivity (FC); Hypnosis; Psychophysiological interaction (PPI); Supplementary motor area (SMA); Thought insertion (TI)