Talking to ourselves and voices in our heads

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. You can change your cookie settings at any time. Otherwise, we'll assume you're OK to continue. Auditory verbal hallucinations, more commonly known as hearing voices, and the way many of us talk to ourselves inside our heads may be more closely linked than we previously thought, according to a new book by a Durham psychologist. In the book, Professor Charles Fernyhough from the Department of Psychology , sheds light on the complicated relationship between the day-to-day conversations people have with themselves and hearing voices when there is no one speaking. Inner speech and voice-hearing One theory, which has significant scientific support, is that voice-hearing experiences result from the misattribution of what psychologists call 'inner speech' - the inner voice that accompanies thinking - to an external source. Professor Fernyhough is director of Hearing the Voice, Durham's interdisciplinary study of voice-hearing funded by the Wellcome Trust.