Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-dnltx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T15:59:46.881Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Musical hallucinosis: case reports and possible neurobiological models

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2014

Ramon Mocellin ,
Mark Walterfang  and
Dennis Velakoulis
Ramon Mocellin*
Affiliation:
Neuropsychiatry Unit, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Mark Walterfang
Affiliation:
Neuropsychiatry Unit, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Dennis Velakoulis
Affiliation:
Neuropsychiatry Unit, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
*
Ramon Mocellin, Level 2, John Cade Building, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria 3050 Australia. Tel: +61 3 93428750; Fax: +61 3 93428483; E-mail: ramon.mocellin@nh.org.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective:

The perception of music without a stimulus, or musical hallucination, is reported in both organic and psychiatric disorders. It is most frequently described in the elderly with associated hearing loss and accompanied by some degree of insight. In this setting it is often referred to as ‘musical hallucinosis’. The aim of the authors was to present examples of this syndrome and review the current understanding of its neurobiological basis.

Method:

We describe three cases of persons experiencing musical hallucinosis in the context of hearing deficits with varying degrees of associated central nervous system abnormalities.

Results:

Putative neurobiological mechanisms, in particular those involving de-afferentation of a complex auditory recognition system by complete or partial deafness, are discussed in the light of current information from the literature.

Conclusion:

Musical hallucinosis can be experienced in those patients with hearing impairment and is phenomenologically distinct for hallucinations described in psychiatric disorders.

Keywords

auditorydeafnesshallucinationshallucinosismusical
Type
Case report
Information
Acta Neuropsychiatrica , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , April 2008 , pp. 91 - 95
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 Blackwell Munksgaard

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Berrios, GE. Musical hallucinations. A historical and clinical study. Br J Psychiatry 1990;156:188–194. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mocellin, R, Walterfang, M, Velakoulis, D. Neuropsychiatry of complex visual hallucinations. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 2006;40:742–751. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cerrato, P, Imperiale, D, Giraudo, Met al. Complex musical hallucinosis in a professional musician with a left subcortical haemorrhage. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2001;71:280–281. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evers, S, Ellger, T. The clinical spectrum of musical hallucinations. J Neurol Sci 2004;227:55–65. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
E Fischer, C, Marchie, A, Norris, M. Musical and auditory hallucinations: a spectrum. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2004;58:96–98. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Griffiths, TD. Musical hallucinosis in acquired deafness. Phenomenology and brain substrate. Brain 2000;123 (Pt 10):2065–2076. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Griffiths, TD, Buchel, C, Frackowiak, RS, Patterson, RD. Analysis of temporal structure in sound by the human brain. Nat Neurosci 1998;1:422–427. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zatorre, RJ, Evans, AC, Meyer, E. Neural mechanisms underlying melodic perception and memory for pitch. J Neurosci 1994;14:1908–1919. Google ScholarPubMed
Penhune, VB, Zattore, RJ, Evans, AC. Cerebellar contributions to motor timing: a PET study of auditory and visual rhythm reproduction. J Cogn Neurosci 1998;10:752–765. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murata, S, Naritomi, H, Sawada, T. Musical auditory hallucinations caused by a brainstem lesion. Neurology 1994;44:156–158. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schielke, E, Reuter, U, Hoffmann, O, Weber, JR. Musical hallucinations with dorsal pontine lesions. Neurology 2000;55:454–455. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Douen, AG, Bourque, PR. Musical auditory hallucinosis from Listeria rhombencephalitis. Can J Neurol Sci 1997;24:70–72. CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nagaratnam, N, Virk, S, Brdarevic, O. Musical hallucinations associated with recurrence of a right occipital meningioma. British J Clin Pract 1996;50:56–57. Google ScholarPubMed
Stephane, M, Hsu, LK. Musical hallucinations: interplay of degenerative brain disease, psychosis, and culture in a Chinese woman. J Nerv Ment Dis 1996;184:59–61. CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baba, A, Hamada, H. Musical hallucinations in schizophrenia. Psychopathology 1999;32:242–251. CrossRefGoogle Scholar