Also known as akoasm, acoasm, acousma, *nonverbal hallucination, and nonvocal auditory hallucination. All six terms are used to denote an * auditory hallucination consisting of one or more sounds or noises, other than spoken words. The group of nonverbal auditory hallucinations includes hallucinated sounds such as machine noises, barking, whistling, * musical hallucinations (mostly instrumental), and nonverbal sounds featuring prominently in *tinnitus, such as ringing, hissing, a clear tone, a high-tension wire, buzzing, sizzling, whistling, humming, ticking, clicking, pounding, roaring, pulsation, the sound of the wind or waves upon the shore, an ocean roar, or the chirping of crickets. The term nonverbal auditory hallucination is used in opposition to the term *verbal auditory hallucination.
References
Asaad, G. (1990). Hallucinations in clinical psychiatry. A guide for mental health professionals. New York, NY: Brunner/Mazel.
Blom, J.D., Sommer, I.E.C. (2009). Auditory hallucinations. Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology (in press).
Wernicke, C. (1900). Grundriss der Psychiatrie. Leipzig: Verlag von Georg Thieme.
Dictionary of Hallucinations. J.D. Blom. 2010.