Desynchronization in the right auditory cortex during musical hallucinations: A MEG study

Desynchronization in the right auditory cortices, including the transverse gyrus of Heschl, planum temporale and supramarginal cortex, occurred during musical hallucinations in a 78‐year‐old woman with hearing impairment and depression. This phenomenon was assessed using a novel, spatially filtered magnetoencephalography (MEG) analysis, termed synthetic aperture magnetometry (SAM). In general, the affected areas are consistent with neuroimaging studies of normal musical perception and imagery, suggesting that musical hallucinations involve abnormal spontaneous activity in the neural substrate dedicated to musical perception and imagery in which false imagery occurs.