Modulating the Default Mode Network Using Hypnosis
International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis March 24, 2012 Quinton Deeley, David A. Oakley, Brian Toone et al. 149 citations
Hypnosis reduces activity in the default mode network (DMN), a set of brain regions active during rest and linked to self-awareness and task-independent thinking, while increasing activity in prefrontal attentional systems. Using brain imaging and subjective measures during passive visual stimulation, the authors found that the state of attentional absorption after a hypnotic induction was associated with these neural changes. Hypnosis and spontaneous conceptual thought at rest were both subjectively and neurally distinct, offering insight into the hypnotic state and its neural basis.