American Journal for Young Scientists · ISSN 3068-9015
Splitting Voices: Testing Hemispheric Roles in the Perception of Threat in Schizophrenia
Authors: Diya Jithesh
Published: November 24, 2025
Category: Other
Abstract
Schizophrenia involves abnormal interactions between the brain’s hemispheres that may distort how internal experiences are perceived as external reality. To explore how these disruptions contribute to hallucinations and delusions, two complementary experimental paradigms are proposed. In the first, emotional phrases were presented dichotically, with tone and meaning directed to opposite hemispheres, allowing examination of how separating these signals influences the perception of hostile voices. In the second, participants identified faint messages in noise or patterns in random dots to assess how prior expectations and predictive biases shape delusional perception. Patterns across both tasks are hypothesized to be that individuals with schizophrenia will be more inclined to detect meaning in ambiguous stimuli, show elevated false-alarm rates, and are slower to adjust their interpretations after receiving clarifying feedback. These experimental paradigms highlight potential directions for future research on how modifying sensory integration and predictive processing might help reduce perceptual misattributions in schizophrenia.