Structural correlates of auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia: A meta-analysis

Background: Despite being one of the most common symptoms of schizophrenia, determining the neural correlates of auditory hallucinations still remains elusive with various studies providing inconsistent results. Methods: We conducted a voxel-based meta-analysis of studies investigating the structural correlates of auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia. Results: 7 datasets including 350 patients were identified. There was a significant negative correlation between the severity of hallucinations and gray matter volume in the left insula and right superior temporal gyrus. Conclusion: With its key role in stimulus evaluation and optimizing prediction (proximal salience), the insula is likely to be a cardinal region along with superior temporal gyrus in the mechanism of auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.