Aberrant perceptual experiences are thought to be associated with an elevated underlying level of neural activity in the cerebral cortex, known as cortical hyperexcitability. I'm interested in how this results in aberrant auditory experiences, such as voice hearing. Particularly, I focus on how these experiences occur in the absence of psychosis with which they are typically associated.

Dr. Jason Braithwaite and myself conducted an Exploratory Factor Anaysis (with Parallel Analysis) to add several auditory items to the CHi-II, a questionnaire measure of cortical hyperexcitability. We are now using the CHi-II to develop an auditory extension to the Pattern Glare Test, an established behavioural measure of hyperexcitability in the visual cortex.