Although the pathophysiology of auditory verbal hallucinations remains uncertain, the inner speech model remains a prominent theory. A systematic review and meta-analyses of both functional and structural neuroimaging studies were performed to investigate the inner speech model. Of the 417 papers retrieved, 26 met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analyses found the left insula to be significantly active during auditory verbal hallucinations and to have a significantly reduced grey matter volume in hallucinators. Dysfunction of the left insula may contribute to the misattribution of inner speech due to its suggested roles in both inner speech production and the salience network. No significant activity was found at Broca’s area or Heschl’s gyrus during auditory verbal hallucinations. Furthermore, no structural abnormalities were found at these sites or in the arcuate fasciculi. Overall, evidence was found to both support and oppose the inner speech model. Further research should particularly include a systematic review of task-based trait studies with a focus on inner speech production and self-referential processing, and analyses of additional language-related white matter tracts.

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Lifetimes of the T = 1 isobaric analog I π = 2 + states in 50 Mn and 50 Cr have been measured simultaneously by employing the recoil distance Doppler-shift (RDDS) technique. The states were populated in a fusion-evaporation reaction with a 12 C beam on a 40 Ca target. An analysis of the data and the calculations from the present work, together with the available B(E2 : 2 + → 0 +) data of the isobaric analog states in 50 Fe and 50 Cr, have been used to study isospin symmetry in the three A = 50 isobaric nuclei. Shell-model calculations reproduce the magnitudes as well as the increasing trend of the B(E2) data with increasing Z. In order to draw a firm conclusion on the level of isospin mixing in the triplet, a new precision measurement of the 2 + → 0 + transition rate in 50 Fe will be required.

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