40-Hz auditory steady-state response deficits are correlated with the severity of persistent auditory verbal hallucination in patients with schizophrenia

Background: Abnormal 40 Hz auditory steady-state response (ASSR) has been observed in some psychiatric disorders. Nevertheless, the role of 40 Hz ASSR in persistent auditory verbal hallucinations (pAVHs) schizo-phrenia (SCZ) is still unknown. This study aims to investigate whether the 40 Hz ASSR impairment is related to pAVHs and can detect pAVHs severity.Methods: We analyzed high-density electroencephalography data that from 43 pAVHs patients (pAVH group), 20 moderate auditory verbal hallucinations patients (mid-AVH group), and 24 without auditory verbal hallucina-tions patients (non-AVH group). Event-related spectral perturbation and inter-trial phase coherence (ITPC) were calculated to quantify dynamic changes of the 40 Hz ASSR power and ITPC, respectively.Results: Frontal-central, the 40 Hz ASSR power, and ITPC were significantly lower in the pAVH group than in the non-AVH group; There was no significant difference between the pAVH and mid-AVH group. The 40 Hz ASSR was significantly negatively correlated with the severity of pAVHs. The 40 Hz ASSR power, and ITPC could be used as a combinational marker to detect SCZ patients with and without pAVHs.Conclusion: Our findings have shed light on the pathological mechanism of pAVHs in SCZ patients. These results can provide potential avenues for therapeutic intervention of pAVHs.