Neuro-hypnotism: Prospects for hypnosis and neuroscience

Abstract

The neurophysiological substrates of hypnosis have been subject to speculation since the phenomenon got its name. Until recently, much of this research has been geared toward understanding hypnosis itself, including the biological bases of individual differences in hypnotizability, state-dependent changes in cortical activity occurring with the induction of hypnosis, and the neural correlates of response to particular hypnotic suggestions (especially the clinically useful hypnotic analgesia). More recently, hypnosis has begun to be employed as a method for manipulating subjects' mental states, both cognitive and affective, to provide information about the neural substrates of experience, thought, and action. This instrumental use of hypnosis is particularly well-suited for identifying the neural correlates of conscious and unconscious perception and memory, and of voluntary and involuntary action.

Mechanisms of Hypnosis:Toward the Development of a Biopsychosocial Model

“…The most consistent finding with respect to differences between highs and lows in baseline EEG activity, noted by a number of reviewers (Barabasz & Barabasz, 2008; Crawford, 1994; Crawford & Gruzelier, 1992; Kihlstrom, 2013; Ray, 1997), is that individuals who score higher on hypnotizability tests evidence higher baseline levels of theta activity than individuals who score lower on hypnotizability tests (Freeman, Barabasz, Barabasz, & Warner, 2000; Galbraith, London, Leibovitz, Cooper, & Hart, 1970; Kirenskaya, Novototsky-Vlasov, & Zvonikov, 2011; D. D. Montgomery, Dwyer, & Kelly, 2000; Sabourin et al, 1990; Tebecis, Provins, Farnbach, & Pentony, 1975).…”

“…In the initial studies in the 1970s in this area, researchers hypothesized that hypnosis would be associated with more alpha activity, given the interest in this bandwidth as being associated with relaxation and a variety different meditative states (Kihlstrom, 2013; Oakley & Halligan, 2010). However, although hypnotic inductions sometimes result in increases in alpha activity (De Pascalis & Palumbo, 1986; Graffin, Ray, & Lundy, 1995; Macleod-Morgan, 1979; Morgan, Macdonald, & Hilgard, 1974), effects on alpha activity are not consistent (Crawford, 1990; Kihlstrom, 2013; Ray, 1997; Sabourin, Cutcomb, Crawford, & Pribram, 1990). …”

“…A number of articles and chapters have been published that have comprehensively reviewed the associations between biological (mostly, neurophysiological) factors and response to hypnosis and hypnotic suggestions (Barabasz & Barabasz, 2008; Crawford, 1990, 1994; Crawford & Gruzelier, 1992; De Pascalis, 1999; Gruzelier, 1998; Kihlstrom, 2013; Oakley, 2008; Oakley & Halligan, 2010; Ray, 1997). These reviews served as the primary sources for conclusions regarding current state of the science knowledge regarding the importance of biological factors, as well as sources to identify published articles supporting these conclusions.…”

Developing Synaesthesia

“…Hypnosis is able to alter the phenomenological properties of participants' subjective experience (Kihlstrom, 2013;Oakley and Halligan, 2013). The process of hypnosis can be divided into induction and suggestion stages.…”

“…Importantly, perceptual hallucinations (e.g., hearing music) can be induced in many participants (Bowers, 1998), providing a potential link to synesthesia. Although there is general consensus that hypnosis can alter a participant's subjective experience and this can then cause behavioral changes (Kihlstrom, 2013), the neural processes underlying the functional changes corresponding to hypnotically induced perception remain poorly understood. One class of theories postulates that highly hypnotizable people can perform tasks when hypnotized that they could not do otherwise; for example, distort perception so that they actually can see non-existent objects in a way they could not imagine (e.g., Brown and Oakley, 2004) or fail to perceive stimuli that would otherwise impinge on their awareness (e.g., pain, Hilgard, 1986).…”