Early Career Hallucinations Research Group
@echrhallucinations.bsky.social
This is the BlueSky account for the The Early Career Hallucination Research (ECHR) group. Find out more about us here - https://echr.group/
Pinned
Hello! The Early Career Hallucination Research (ECHR) group is linked to the @theichr.bsky.social and is led by Emma Palmer-Cooper (University of Southampton, UK) and Catherine Bortolon (University of Grenoble-Aples, Fr). Posts on here by @davidesmailes.bsky.social ...
Important paper form last year reporting a network analysis of associations between trauma types and psychotic symptoms in participants from East Africa. Exposure to a war zone was directly related to presence of visual halluciations: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Relationships between trauma types and psychotic symptoms: A network analysis of patients with psychotic disorders in a large, multi-country study in East Africa
The link between trauma exposure and psychotic disorders is well-established. Further, specific types of trauma may be associated with specific psycho…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 11, 2025 at 10:09 AM
Important paper form last year reporting a network analysis of associations between trauma types and psychotic symptoms in participants from East Africa. Exposure to a war zone was directly related to presence of visual halluciations: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Early Career Hallucinations Research Group
The ICHR Special Supplement 2025 is out!
New in Schiz Bull, find work from six of our international working groups, ft. new reviews on sleep dysfunction, cog development, psychedelics, cross-cultural comparisons, & the bodily self, plus the iMAPS 2 Imagery RCT!
hallucinationconsortium.org
New in Schiz Bull, find work from six of our international working groups, ft. new reviews on sleep dysfunction, cog development, psychedelics, cross-cultural comparisons, & the bodily self, plus the iMAPS 2 Imagery RCT!
hallucinationconsortium.org
International Consortium on Hallucination Research
Visit the post for more.
hallucinationconsortium.org
November 6, 2025 at 8:55 AM
The ICHR Special Supplement 2025 is out!
New in Schiz Bull, find work from six of our international working groups, ft. new reviews on sleep dysfunction, cog development, psychedelics, cross-cultural comparisons, & the bodily self, plus the iMAPS 2 Imagery RCT!
hallucinationconsortium.org
New in Schiz Bull, find work from six of our international working groups, ft. new reviews on sleep dysfunction, cog development, psychedelics, cross-cultural comparisons, & the bodily self, plus the iMAPS 2 Imagery RCT!
hallucinationconsortium.org
Last blog post by me on Open Research. This time on the value of not-for-profit/diamond open access publishers: echr.group/2025/11/05/w...
Why should I support not-for-profit publishers/diamond open access journals?
Traditional scientific publishing is a very lucrative business. For example, it has been reported that for-profit publishers (such as Elsevier, Springer-Nature, Wiley, Taylor & Francis) have pr…
echr.group
November 7, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Last blog post by me on Open Research. This time on the value of not-for-profit/diamond open access publishers: echr.group/2025/11/05/w...
Anotehr blog post from me re: open research. This time on pre-prints: echr.group/2025/10/31/w...
Not mentioned in that blog, but the folks @asapbio.bsky.social have a great resource on pre-printing here: asapbio.org/about/why-pr...
Not mentioned in that blog, but the folks @asapbio.bsky.social have a great resource on pre-printing here: asapbio.org/about/why-pr...
Why should I use pre-prints?
Traditional scientific publishing is slow and is often pay-walled. That is, there is normally a long delay between submitting your manuscript for publication and that manuscript being published (an…
echr.group
November 5, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Anotehr blog post from me re: open research. This time on pre-prints: echr.group/2025/10/31/w...
Not mentioned in that blog, but the folks @asapbio.bsky.social have a great resource on pre-printing here: asapbio.org/about/why-pr...
Not mentioned in that blog, but the folks @asapbio.bsky.social have a great resource on pre-printing here: asapbio.org/about/why-pr...
Interesting paper reports that mental imagery plays a role in the onset of AVH by eliciting anxiety - doi.org/10.1093/schi...
Exploring the Working Mechanisms between Anxiety, Mental Imagery and Auditory Verbal Hallucinations: A Longitudinal Study
AbstractBackground. Auditory Verbal Hallucinations (AVHs) are the most common hallucinations within the psychosis spectrum and are often accompanied by anx
doi.org
November 4, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Interesting paper reports that mental imagery plays a role in the onset of AVH by eliciting anxiety - doi.org/10.1093/schi...
Reposted by Early Career Hallucinations Research Group
(Un)shared realities of psychosis treatment: An ethnographic study of (mis)alignment
between psychiatrists and patients experiencing psychosis...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
between psychiatrists and patients experiencing psychosis...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
(Un)shared realities of psychosis treatment: An ethnographic study of (mis)alignment between psychiatrists and patients experiencing psychosis
Delivering effective, compassionate psychiatric care that emphasizes meaningful exploration of patient perspectives remains a challenge for modern psy…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 3, 2025 at 4:00 PM
(Un)shared realities of psychosis treatment: An ethnographic study of (mis)alignment
between psychiatrists and patients experiencing psychosis...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
between psychiatrists and patients experiencing psychosis...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Yet another blog post from me on open research. this time about open sharing of data. Why we should do it, and why we sometimes can't - echr.group/2025/10/23/w... ...
Why should I share my data?
Open data refers to free, unrestricted, sharing of data collected for a study with everyone/anyone. For example, a researcher might post the study collected in their study on something like Figshar…
echr.group
October 23, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Yet another blog post from me on open research. this time about open sharing of data. Why we should do it, and why we sometimes can't - echr.group/2025/10/23/w... ...
Pretty big (almost 200 patients) study on cognitive and neuro correlates of performance on a face pareidolia task in Lewy Body dementia: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com
October 23, 2025 at 11:50 AM
Pretty big (almost 200 patients) study on cognitive and neuro correlates of performance on a face pareidolia task in Lewy Body dementia: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Missed this last year - protocol for a meta-analysis of 'targeted' psychological intevrnetions for auditory hallucination in psychosis: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Targeted psychological and psychosocial interventions for auditory hallucinations in persons with psychotic disorders: Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis
Background In recent years, a growing body of evidence has demonstrated the efficacy of non-pharmacological interventions for schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) including positive symptoms such as...
journals.plos.org
October 22, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Missed this last year - protocol for a meta-analysis of 'targeted' psychological intevrnetions for auditory hallucination in psychosis: journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...
Interesting experience sampling paper from earlier this year on using passive physiological indices as predictors of the onset of hallucinations in patients' daily lives - doi.org/10.1017/S0033291725000881
Surprisingly high (at least to me) ability to predict onset from these measures.
Surprisingly high (at least to me) ability to predict onset from these measures.
Predicting experiences of paranoia and auditory verbal hallucinations in daily life with ambulatory sensor data – A feasibility study | Psychological Medicine | Cambridge Core
Predicting experiences of paranoia and auditory verbal hallucinations in daily life with ambulatory sensor data – A feasibility study - Volume 55
doi.org
October 21, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Interesting experience sampling paper from earlier this year on using passive physiological indices as predictors of the onset of hallucinations in patients' daily lives - doi.org/10.1017/S0033291725000881
Surprisingly high (at least to me) ability to predict onset from these measures.
Surprisingly high (at least to me) ability to predict onset from these measures.
Another blog post by me - @davidesmailes.bsky.social - about open/resproducible research. This one about measurement practices - echr.group/2025/10/17/w... ...
Why should I focus on measurement?
In other posts, I have argued (based on what other, smarter people have said) that it is important for us to recruit larger samples, to pre-register hypothesis-driven work, and to openly share stud…
echr.group
October 20, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Another blog post by me - @davidesmailes.bsky.social - about open/resproducible research. This one about measurement practices - echr.group/2025/10/17/w... ...
Study protocol for the study protocol for the Talking With Voices (TWV-II) trial published this week - link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Looking at the trial registry, recruitment ended in June, and so presumably just doing end-of-treatment/follow-up assessments now.
Looking at the trial registry, recruitment ended in June, and so presumably just doing end-of-treatment/follow-up assessments now.
Multisite randomised controlled trial of a novel dialogical therapy in comparison to treatment as usual in adults with distressing and persistent auditory hallucinations: study protocol for the Talkin...
Background Hearing voices (“auditory hallucinations”) is associated with numerous negative outcomes, including hospitalisation, suicidality, and impaired functioning. Currently, the main treatment app...
link.springer.com
October 16, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Study protocol for the study protocol for the Talking With Voices (TWV-II) trial published this week - link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Looking at the trial registry, recruitment ended in June, and so presumably just doing end-of-treatment/follow-up assessments now.
Looking at the trial registry, recruitment ended in June, and so presumably just doing end-of-treatment/follow-up assessments now.
Great preprint from @pavoorepic.bsky.social and colleagues showing that weaker performance on a self-other voice discrimination task is specifically associated with expericing hallucinations (data from 23 patients with AVH, 18 patients without AVH, and 40 controls ) www.medrxiv.org/content/medr...
www.medrxiv.org
October 15, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Great preprint from @pavoorepic.bsky.social and colleagues showing that weaker performance on a self-other voice discrimination task is specifically associated with expericing hallucinations (data from 23 patients with AVH, 18 patients without AVH, and 40 controls ) www.medrxiv.org/content/medr...
Reposted by Early Career Hallucinations Research Group
ReplicationResearch.org is now open for submissions!
Submit replications and reproductions from many different fields, as well as conceptual contributions. With diamond OA, open and citable peer review reports, and reproducibility checks, we push the boundaries of open and fair publishing.
Submit replications and reproductions from many different fields, as well as conceptual contributions. With diamond OA, open and citable peer review reports, and reproducibility checks, we push the boundaries of open and fair publishing.
October 10, 2025 at 6:12 AM
ReplicationResearch.org is now open for submissions!
Submit replications and reproductions from many different fields, as well as conceptual contributions. With diamond OA, open and citable peer review reports, and reproducibility checks, we push the boundaries of open and fair publishing.
Submit replications and reproductions from many different fields, as well as conceptual contributions. With diamond OA, open and citable peer review reports, and reproducibility checks, we push the boundaries of open and fair publishing.
ICHR special issue in Schizophrenia Bulletin released this month. Too many good papers to mention - academic.oup.com/schizophreni...
Volume 51 Issue Supplement_3 | Schizophrenia Bulletin | Oxford Academic
The flagship journal of the Schizophrenia Bulletin family. Reviews recent developments and empirically based hypotheses regarding the etiology and treatment of schizophrenia, ranging from the molecula...
academic.oup.com
October 9, 2025 at 10:32 AM
ICHR special issue in Schizophrenia Bulletin released this month. Too many good papers to mention - academic.oup.com/schizophreni...
A great paper from last year (that I only recently discovered) on unusual sensory experinces in migraine. Lots of interesting detail here (e.g., re: olfactory hallucinations): link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Multisensory hallucinations and other unusual sensory experiences in the context of migraine: a systematic review - Journal of Neurology
Objective and background Visual auras in migraine have been extensively studied, but less is known about multisensory hallucinations or other unusual sensory experiences, including whether these should be diagnostically considered as part of aura symptoms. The current study aimed to conduct a systematic review and synthesis to bring together existing empirical evidence on these non-visual perceptual experiences, focusing on their phenomenological descriptions and clinical correlates. Methods Forty-eight relevant studies were included based on a systematic search across PsycINFO APA and Web of Science, for peer-reviewed publications in the English language, from 1980 to the present. These comprised a mix of case reports/series (n = 19) and group design studies (n = 29). Results Reports of complex multisensory hallucinations, beyond typical established aura symptoms, were numerous and varied in nature. Yet there were limited data on how this related to patient distress and functional interference. Other sensory distortions or hypersensitivities across non-visual domains were also evident, and generally more common in those with established aura symptoms. Conclusion Our findings provide preliminary evidence that multisensory hallucinations and other unusual perceptual experiences in migraine are likely more common than previously believed. Further investigations are needed to appropriately account for these symptoms within current nosological systems. Increased clinician–patient awareness is important for managing distress (where necessary), and potentially for offering a holistic therapeutic approach to migraine management.
link.springer.com
October 7, 2025 at 12:32 PM
A great paper from last year (that I only recently discovered) on unusual sensory experinces in migraine. Lots of interesting detail here (e.g., re: olfactory hallucinations): link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Umbrella review from Cassie Hazell (a co-founder of ECHR!) and colleagues on what voices (AKA auditory verbal hallcuinations) say and how they say it (e.g., voice frequency, emotional tone, gender, and accent) - onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
The Content and Topography of Auditory Verbal Hallucinations in Adult Psychosis Patients: What Does a Voice Say, and How Does It Say It? An Umbrella Review and Collation
Background
Auditory verbal hallucinations (‘voices’) in clinical psychosis are associated with significant distress and disability, but the efficacy of CBT for voices is modest. Greater phenomenolog.....
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 6, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Umbrella review from Cassie Hazell (a co-founder of ECHR!) and colleagues on what voices (AKA auditory verbal hallcuinations) say and how they say it (e.g., voice frequency, emotional tone, gender, and accent) - onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
Another post on the echr.group blog about using free-open-source software to (at least in part) aid reproducibility/replication effecorts. See echr.group/2025/10/03/w... ...
Why should I use free/open source materials/software?
As mentioned in another post, sharing the materials you have used to conduct a study can help others to replicate your work. Replication is important because it allows the research community test h…
echr.group
October 3, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Another post on the echr.group blog about using free-open-source software to (at least in part) aid reproducibility/replication effecorts. See echr.group/2025/10/03/w... ...
Recent review from former ECHRer @pmoseley.bsky.social and colleagues on voice-hearing and other unusual sensory experineces in psychotic, mood, and anxiety disorders. Cites my work three times, so it must be good - www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Hearing voices and other altered perceptual experiences across psychotic, mood, and anxiety disorders: from phenomenology and mechanisms to future directions - Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia - Hearing voices and other altered perceptual experiences across psychotic, mood, and anxiety disorders: from phenomenology and mechanisms to future directions
www.nature.com
October 2, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Recent review from former ECHRer @pmoseley.bsky.social and colleagues on voice-hearing and other unusual sensory experineces in psychotic, mood, and anxiety disorders. Cites my work three times, so it must be good - www.nature.com/articles/s41...
New paper from @parkbmb.bsky.social on links between felt presence and psychosis risk. Some surprising associations between individual differences in resilience and aspects of felt presence experiences: karger.com/psp/article/...
Felt-Presence and Psychosis-Risk in the General Population
Abstract. Objective: Felt presence (FP) is the experience that another entity is present in one’s proximal environment, despite no sensory evidence. Occurrence of FP is linked to psychosis-risk, but q...
karger.com
October 1, 2025 at 12:40 PM
New paper from @parkbmb.bsky.social on links between felt presence and psychosis risk. Some surprising associations between individual differences in resilience and aspects of felt presence experiences: karger.com/psp/article/...
Reposted by Early Career Hallucinations Research Group
👇
Post doc job alert 📢! Announcing a v exciting job on a Wellcome-funded project in my group at UCL, looking at auditory hallucinations... Advert here 👀: rb.gy/230w8l - deadline is end of Oct. Please apply! 1/5
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
rb.gy
September 30, 2025 at 1:52 PM
👇
Reposted by Early Career Hallucinations Research Group
🔍 Have we solved the replication crisis?
Join us for an IGOR panel discussion on the state of Open Science in biological psychology more than a decade after the crisis first hit.
📅 Friday, 10 Oct | 10:00–11:00 CET
💻 Online (contact us for the link)
#OpenScience #neuroskyence #academicsky
[1/3]
Join us for an IGOR panel discussion on the state of Open Science in biological psychology more than a decade after the crisis first hit.
📅 Friday, 10 Oct | 10:00–11:00 CET
💻 Online (contact us for the link)
#OpenScience #neuroskyence #academicsky
[1/3]
September 30, 2025 at 10:08 AM
🔍 Have we solved the replication crisis?
Join us for an IGOR panel discussion on the state of Open Science in biological psychology more than a decade after the crisis first hit.
📅 Friday, 10 Oct | 10:00–11:00 CET
💻 Online (contact us for the link)
#OpenScience #neuroskyence #academicsky
[1/3]
Join us for an IGOR panel discussion on the state of Open Science in biological psychology more than a decade after the crisis first hit.
📅 Friday, 10 Oct | 10:00–11:00 CET
💻 Online (contact us for the link)
#OpenScience #neuroskyence #academicsky
[1/3]
Reposted by Early Career Hallucinations Research Group
Awesome work by @jorge-morales.bsky.social and team, using LLMs to suggest that propositional reasoning might be enough to solve classic imagery tasks! ✨
Imagine an apple 🍎. Is your mental image more like a picture or more like a thought? In a new preprint led by Morgan McCarty—our lab's wonderful RA—we develop a new approach to this old cognitive science question and find that LLMs excel at tasks thought to be solvable only via visual imagery. 🧵
Artificial Phantasia: Evidence for Propositional Reasoning-Based Mental Imagery in Large Language Models
This study offers a novel approach for benchmarking complex cognitive behavior in artificial systems. Almost universally, Large Language Models (LLMs) perform best on tasks which may be included in th...
arxiv.org
October 1, 2025 at 6:32 AM
Awesome work by @jorge-morales.bsky.social and team, using LLMs to suggest that propositional reasoning might be enough to solve classic imagery tasks! ✨
Interesting qual study on multimodal hallucinations experienced by Muslim patients with psychosis re: the role of jinn-eoncounters: karger.com/psp/article/...
Multimodal hallucinations in Muslim patients with severe psychotic disorders: The entity experience revisited
Abstract. Introduction: In biomedicine, entity experiences are conceptualised as compound hallucinations featuring living beings. The term ‘experience’ suggests that these have an objective basis in r...
karger.com
September 30, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Interesting qual study on multimodal hallucinations experienced by Muslim patients with psychosis re: the role of jinn-eoncounters: karger.com/psp/article/...
Reposted by Early Career Hallucinations Research Group
Just one day left to apply to this role! ⏱️
Come work with us developing computational models to pick apart the mechanisms underlying social cognition and threat using THC 💊 neuroimaging 🧠 and interactive behavioural paradigms 👥
Apply here -> lnkd.in/eCMy9Jf5
Come work with us developing computational models to pick apart the mechanisms underlying social cognition and threat using THC 💊 neuroimaging 🧠 and interactive behavioural paradigms 👥
Apply here -> lnkd.in/eCMy9Jf5
🧠 We're hiring a computational postdoc!
3+ years with me & @mitulamehta.bsky.social on @wellcometrust.bsky.social funded social cognition/paranoia research at the IoPPN.
Lead & develop computational work, collaborate with experimentalists on psychosis/THC data.
DM for details! lnkd.in/eCMy9Jf5
3+ years with me & @mitulamehta.bsky.social on @wellcometrust.bsky.social funded social cognition/paranoia research at the IoPPN.
Lead & develop computational work, collaborate with experimentalists on psychosis/THC data.
DM for details! lnkd.in/eCMy9Jf5
September 30, 2025 at 5:37 AM
Just one day left to apply to this role! ⏱️
Come work with us developing computational models to pick apart the mechanisms underlying social cognition and threat using THC 💊 neuroimaging 🧠 and interactive behavioural paradigms 👥
Apply here -> lnkd.in/eCMy9Jf5
Come work with us developing computational models to pick apart the mechanisms underlying social cognition and threat using THC 💊 neuroimaging 🧠 and interactive behavioural paradigms 👥
Apply here -> lnkd.in/eCMy9Jf5