Predicting Psychotic-Like Experiences during Sensory Deprivation
BioMed Research International February 24, 2015 Christina Daniel, O. Mason
People who are prone to hallucinations experience more psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) during brief sensory deprivation than those who are not, and both groups show an increase in PLEs during deprivation. Hallucination proneness is the strongest predictor of this increase, with state anxiety also contributing. Suggestibility and fantasy proneness do not predict the increase, indicating that the rise in PLEs reflects genuine perceptual changes rather than a tendency to falsely report experiences. The findings support sensory deprivation as a safe, nonpharmacological model for studying psychosis.