The neurophysiological and neurochemical alterations involved in the formation of hallucinations are not sufficiently understood. fMRI was used during a face detection task, and neurotransmitter levels in the visual cortex were measured by 1H MRS at 3T to elucidate processes involved in the false (hallucinatory) detection of faces in pure noise patterns. Increased hallucinatory face detections were related to decreased activation of the fusiform face area. In addition, decreased face-dependent activation was related to reduced glutamate levels. These findings substantiate theories of hallucinatory misperceptions, which implicate impaired glutamatergic transmission in a reduced ability to differentiate between meaningful information and noise.
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