In 30 right handed patients with paranoid schizophrenia and different forms of verbal hallucinations, a study was made of the thresholds of sound signals of diverse durations. It was established that in hallucinating patients, as compared to a control group (schizophrenic patients with paranoidal syndromes), there was an asymmetry of threshold detection of short sound signals (10 msec and shorter) which was brought about by an increase of the threshold in the right ear. In 2 patients with signs of left handedness there was an asymmetry of thresholds due to its increase in the left ear. The asymmetry attained a crucial expressiveness in patients with genuine verbal hallucinations. The authors discuss the relation of verbal hallucinations with mechanisms of internal speech and pathology of audioverbal zones in the temporal areas of a dominant hemisphere.