Abstract
Hallucination is a sensory experience in which a person can see, hear, smell, taste, or feel something that is not actually present in the environment. Visual and auditory hallucinations have drastic effects on cognitions and emotions which leaves long term residues on dementia patients and normal individuals functionality. There is evidence that hallucinations may lead to effect the semantic memory and emotional problem like distress and depression. The effect of visual and auditory hallucination can be extremely distressing for mostly dementia patients rather than healthy individuals. However, there is very little evidence that hallucination leads towards dementia and distress or depression. There is also very little empirical data available regarding the direct impact of visual and auditory on cognitive and emotional functioning of dementia patients and normal individuals thus the current study will examine this phenomenon in detail by investigating the effect of visual and auditory hallucinations on memory and emotional responses of dementia and normal individuals. Moreover, the role of placebo intervention will also be investigated in this study. A temporal, double-blinded, randomized block design experiment will be conducted on a sample of 40 individuals between ages 40 to 65 years, 20 dementia patients and 20 normal individuals. Dementia Rating Scale, Picture Sequence Memory Test, Launay–Slade Hallucination Scale, Mini mental state examination, Beck Depression Inventory alongside a detailed demographic sheet and consent form will be administered. Subsequently, the participants will be presented with a series of visual and auditory Hallucinations, to assess the effect on their cognitive and emotional functioning. They will also be administered a placebo intervention to reduce the emotional consequence of the stimulation. Data will be collected and analyzed using Psychopy. This study will open up new avenues for researchers and policy makers to conduct further studies to improve cognitive and psychological problems which is triggered by auditory and verbal hallucinations in both normal and dementia individuals. Current experiment will help helpful in clinical settings for researchers to conduct further studies and develop new interventions to improve cognitive and psychological functioning and establish mental health centers in education to improve psychological and cognitive problems. This study will also provide a deeper understanding of the aspects of visual and auditory hallucinations as a reference for creating awareness and effective intervention strategies in the future.