Brain Activity and Functional Connectivity Associated with Hypnosis



Hypnosis has proven clinical utility, yet changes in brain activity underlying the hypnotic state have not yet been fully identified. Hypnosis, or trance, is an altered state of mind in which a person is highly responsive to suggestion. While in trance, a hypnotic subject is focused entirely on certain ideas to the exclusion of all others.Previous research suggests that hypnosis is associated with decreased default mode network (DMN) activity and that high hypnotizability is associated with greater functional connectivity between the executive control network (ECN) and the salience network (SN). We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate activity and functional connectivity among these three networks in hypnosis. However, in recent years, advances in cognitive science have found trance to be a natural state, grounded in the principle workings of the mind.

When the brain is affected by hypnosis — a trance-like state with focused attention and reduced peripheral awareness — it faces an extreme reduction in its activities, although simple perception still takes place, according to a new study. The role of hypnosis and related psychotherapeutic techniques are discussed in relation to the anxiety disorders. In particular, anxiety is addressed as a special form of mind/body problem involving reverberating interaction between mental and physical distress.

The history of hypnosis as a therapeutic discipline is reviewed, after which neurobiological evidence of the effect of hypnosis on modulation of perception in the brain. Specific brain regions involved in hypnosis are reviewed, notably the dorsal anterior cingulate gyrus and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The importance of hypnotizability as a trait, stable variability in hypnotic responsiveness, is discussed. Analogies between the hypnotic state and dissociative reactions to trauma are presented, and the uses of hypnosis in treating posttraumatic stress disorder, stressful situations, and phobias as well as outcome data are reviewed.


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