title: The Changing Face of Hallucination Research: The International Consortium on Hallucination Research (ICHR) 2015 Meeting Report.
abstract: This article reports on the Third Biennial Meeting of the International Consortium on Hallucinations Research, held in Melbourne, Australia, in October 2015. Following a public conference in which research findings were considered in relation to subjective experience and practice, 9 multidisciplinary working groups examined key current issues in progressing the conceptualization and research of hallucinations. Work group topics included: multicenter validation of the transdiagnostic and multimodal Questionnaire for Psychotic Experiences; development of an improved outcome measure for psychological therapies; the relationship between inhibition and hallucinations across multiple levels of explanation; hallucinations in relation to sleep phenomena; emotion and hallucinations; multiple interactions between the experience of self and hallucinations; interactions between language, auditory and memory networks; resting state networks including the default mode; and analyses arising from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data-sharing. Major themes in hallucinations research identified during the meeting included (1) progression beyond the auditory verbal modality in schizophrenia to consider hallucinations across modalities and different populations; (2) development of new measures; (3) the central role of multisite collaboration through shared data collection and data pooling; (4) study of time-based and interactive models of hallucination; and (5) the need to increase the accessibility and availability of "real-life" interventions for people with persisting and distressing hallucinations.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia; Monash Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred, Melbourne, Australia;
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Susan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Rossell
authors.affiliation: flavie.waters@health.wa.gov.au.
authors.forename: Flavie
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Waters
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D003226:Congresses as Topic; D006212:Hallucinations / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D012955:Societies, Medical
keywords: hallucinations; schizophrenia; voices