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Hypnosis has 'real' brain effect

2009-11-17 07:07:07

Hypnosis has a "very real" effect that can be picked up on brain scans, say

Hull University researchers.

An imaging study of hypnotised participants showed decreased activity in the

parts of the brain linked with daydreaming or letting the mind wander.

The same brain patterns were absent in people who had the tests but who were

not susceptible to being hypnotised.

One psychologist said the study backed the theory that hypnosis "primes" the

brain to be open to suggestion.

Hypnosis is increasingly being used to help people stop smoking or lose weight

and advisers recently recommended its use on the NHS to treat irritable bowel

syndrome.

This shows that the changes were due to hypnosis and not just simple

relaxation

Dr William McGeown, study leader

It is not the first time researchers have tried to use imaging studies to

monitor brain activity in people under hypnosis.

But the Hull team said these had been done while people had been asked to carry

out tasks, so it was not clear whether the changes in the brain were due to the

act of doing the task or an effect of hypnosis.

In the latest study, the team first tested how people responded to hypnosis and

selected 10 individuals who were "highly suggestible" and seven people who did

not really respond to the technique other than becoming more relaxed.

The participants were asked to do a task under hypnosis, such as listening to

non-existent music, but unknown to them the brain activity was being monitored

in the rest periods in between tasks, the team reported in the journal

Consciousness and Cognition.

Default mode

In the "highly suggestible" group there was decreased activity in the part of

the brain involved in daydreaming or letting the mind wander - also known as

the "default mode" network.

One suggestion of how hypnosis works, supported by the results, is that

shutting off this activity leaves the brain free to concentrate on other tasks.

Study leader Dr William McGeown, a lecturer in the department of psychology,

said the results were unequivocal because they only occurred in the highly

suggestible subjects.

"This shows that the changes were due to hypnosis and not just simple

relaxation. "Our study shows hypnosis is real."

Dr Michael Heap, a clinical forensic psychologist based in Sheffield, said the

experiment was unique in showing brain patterns supporting the theory that

hypnosis works by "priming" the subject to respond more effectively to

suggestions.

"Importantly the data confirm that relaxation is not a critical factor.

"The limited data from this experiment suggest that this pattern of activity

then dissipates (at least to some extent) once the subjects start to engage in

the suggestions that follow."

But he said the small study, which needed repeating in other populations, did

not prove that people being hypnotised were in an actual "trance".