International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis
March 24, 2012
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.
International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis
October 1, 1977
Erika Fromm
39 citations
A new ego-psychological theory explains altered states of consciousness by examining dichotomies: primary versus secondary process, ego activity versus ego receptivity, and automatization versus de-automatization of ego functions. These dichotomies are applied to daydreaming, the inspirational phase of creativity, hypnosis, psychedelic states, and meditation. The roles of fantasy, imagery, and various forms of attention are also discussed.
International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis
January 2, 2019
Enrico Facco, Edoardo Casiglia, Benedikt Emanuel Al Khafaji et al.
38 citations
Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) induced through hypnosis provide a controlled way to study the phenomenon. In 15 highly hypnotizable people, OBEs were evoked either as an imaginative task while resting or under hypnosis. Brain activity was recorded with EEG, and participants completed a questionnaire about their experience. The hypnotic OBEs produced stronger feelings of altered state, positive affect, and focused attention, along with decreased beta and gamma brainwave power in the right parieto-temporal region. These findings suggest that hypnotically induced OBEs can serve as a useful experimental model for spontaneous out-of-body experiences.
International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis
July 1, 1961
Seymour Lionel Halpern
15 citations
The paper argues that hallucinations induced by hypnosis and by the drug mescaline share a common underlying structure, despite their different causes. It describes how both types of hallucination involve similar perceptual distortions, such as changes in color, shape, and spatial relations, and suggests that these similarities point to a shared psychological mechanism. The author proposes that understanding this overlap can inform clinical approaches in psychiatry and psychology, particularly for conditions involving altered states of consciousness. The work is a theoretical and comparative analysis, not an empirical study, drawing on existing literature and clinical observations to support its claims.
International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis
June 1, 2018
D. Patterson, C. Hoffer, M. Jensen et al.
8 citations
A small pilot study tested whether a low dose of ketamine could increase hypnotizability in healthy volunteers who initially scored low on the Stanford Clinical Hypnotizability Scale. Ketamine, used clinically as an anesthetic and for depression, can produce dissociation and detachment similar to hypnotic states. Participants' subjective dissociation ratings and hypnotizability scores both moved in the predicted direction, but the results were not definitive. The findings suggest that further research is warranted to explore ketamine's potential to enhance hypnotizability.
International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis
January 1, 1972
David Whitman van Nuys
4 citations
Male undergraduates who had used marijuana or psychedelic drugs such as LSD, mescaline, or psilocybin scored about two points higher on a standard measure of hypnotic susceptibility than those who had not used these drugs. The average difference in scores suggests a link between drug use and hypnotizability, but the authors note that further research is needed to determine whether this relationship is causal.