© University of Turku
In a new study, researchers from the University of Turku showcased that the way
our brain processes information is fundamentally altered during hypnosis. The research helps to understand how hypnosis produces changes in a hypnotised person's behaviour and subjective experiences.
During a normal waking state, information is processed and shared by various parts within our brain to enable flexible responses to external stimuli. Researchers from the University of Turku, Finland, found that during hypnosis the brain shifted to a state where individual brain regions acted more independently of each other.
- In a normal waking state, different brain regions share information with each other, but during hypnosis this process is kind of fractured and the various brain regions are no longer similarly synchronized, describes researcher Henry Railo from the Department of Clinical Neurophysiology at the University of Turku.
The finding shows that the brain may function quite differently during hypnosis when compared to a normal waking state. This is interesting because the extent to which hypnosis modifies neural processing has been hotly debated in the field. The new findings also help to better understand which types of changes and mechanisms may explain the experiential and behavioural alterations attributed to hypnosis, such as liability to suggestions.
The study focused on a single person who has been extensively studied earlier and been shown to react strongly to hypnotic suggestions. During hypnosis, this person can experience phenomena that are not typically possible in a normal waking state, such as vivid and controlled hallucinations.
Even though these findings cannot be generalised before a replication has been conducted on a larger sample of participants, we have demonstrated what kind of changes happen in the neural activity of a person who reacts to hypnosis particularly strongly, clarifies Jarno Tuominen, Senior Researcher at the Department of Psychology and Speech-Language Pathology.
Hypnosis Studied for the First Time with New MethodThe study was conducted by tracking how a magnetically-induced electrical current spread throughout the brain during hypnosis and normal waking state. This method has been previously used to measure system-level changes in the brain in various states of consciousness, such as anaesthesia, coma, and sleep. This is the first time such a method has been used to assess hypnosis.
During the study, the participant sat still with eyes closed, alternatively either hypnotised or in a normal waking state. Hypnosis was induced via a single-word cue, and the different conditions were identical in every other respect.
- This allowed us to control the possible effects of the experimental setup or other factors, such as alertness, Tuominen explains.
The study was conducted by researchers Jarno Tuominen from the division of Psychology, Henry Railo from the Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, and Valtteri Kaasinen, Assistant Professor in Neurology at the University of Turku, Finland, together with Assistant Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience Sakari Kallio at the University of Skövde, Sweden.
The study was published in the journal
Neuroscience of Consciousness.
Reader Comments
I really don't get it, and it makes me feel like an alien to the human race, like I really am not one of you guys at all...I hope. I would hate to think that somebody just said some slick shit to me and I fell asleep while I was walking around and didn't realize it, or that could even happen. I'm concerned that it could, and more concerned that it has in fact happened to billions of idiots world wide who somehow can't remember what the flu is and are deathly afraid of it now, after having been "hypnotized" like chickens and told that the "Corona virus is special, never mind the facts. Be afraid, very afraid." It's like they all suddenly realized that there are germs everywhere and now they're terrified, but you can't really explain it to them that there were always germs everywhere, and "that's why you have an immune system, dumbass. Just wash your hands after you go to the bathroom, please." I was surprised to learn how many grown-ups at work don't. The same ones are now really into their masks too. I don't fucking get it. I think some of you have a screw loose, and it's being exploited by big-tech, the media, and big brother.
Much of what folks associate with hypnosis is pure bunk - the product of Hollywood. But there is such a thing as covert hypnosis which can really work a number on you without you ever knowing.
Milton Erickson (mentioned above) almost single-handedly transformed Hypnosis from Stage Mesmerism to a surgically precise tool that was as undetectable as it was lethal.
The way to think of hypnosis is a combination of deep trance coupled with enhanced suggestibility. Both are things we all experience many times every day - without ever knowing it.
e.g. If you have ever driven to work on “auto-pilot”, but not been able to remember your trip, then you have experienced deep trance. Note that most deep trance experiences also involve complete amnesia of the event - which is why it is so hard to remember dreams and auto-pilot trips to work... (Of course everyone is different and there are degrees to everything...)
The suggestibility component can be exemplified by a situation where you are trying to focus on some high priority thing (such as finding your keys at the last minute, or dealing with dangerous traffic), and someone with you asks for a favor or tells you that you should do something...
Most people have a defense system that can intercept requests/commands that may not be beneficial or appropriate, but when your brain is otherwise engaged, your shields are down, and you are vulnerable...
Traumatized people, or people in shock are also vulnerable and suggestible - as are people who are in a state of confusion.
Now, if you add to this verbal tricks that can induce natural altered states, induce confusion (often using ambiguity), or shock you, you can imagine how someone trained and practiced in these techniques can have a powerful effect on someone who is naturally susceptible.
NLP - as mentioned above - is a specialized form of this: the REAL Jedi Mind Trick.
George Lucas was obviously inspired by NLP because he didn’t just mention it in his films. He laced them with examples where he was using it directly on the audience!
If you look up NLP on Wikipedia it is dismissed as “Pseudoscience”, but if it is, why have all (pseudo) news TV shows been dripping and oozing with NLP since the mid ‘90s?
He would also emphasize certain words, ask rhetorical questions, and ‘nudge’ the patient into a therapeutic state. This earned him a reputation for being able to treat patients nobody else could.
I (partially) remember transferring my old tapes of his into a computer.
I would put a 30min tape of his into the cassette player and attempt to monitor the recording.
Immediately, the tape would stop!
It was only when I looked at the clock and noticed that it wasn’t immediately - the full 30 mins had passed...
My favorite is the one where he gave a lecture and hypnotized the entire audience within seconds - awesome!
The number of times someone looked straight through me and then tried to drive straight through me as well!!!
But it is not just that they are hypnotized, auto-pilot is actually a very natural state that the brain uses to optimize its function. (Most of these phenomena are just natural mechanisms that have been either hijacked or co-opted.)
Athletes, artists, musicians, and many more all strive to get “in the zone” where they become one with their execution of what they are doing. Autopilot is just an example of this. Even as a biker - with heightened awareness - when you become one with your machine, you enter an altered state!
For the most part, autopilot makes you better (and safer) at what you are doing - but it breaks down when the autopilot is presented with an unexpected situation - such as encountering a bike (or even a tractor) in traffic when you are expecting only cars...
(The number of folks who just run into tractors on the road is actually quite funny - given their size, and the fact that in a fight between a car and a tractor, it is generally the tractor that wins!)
I do, however, see the strength and power of propaganda. I actually like it as an art form. When I took advertising I had hoped it would be less sinister. I knew it would be though. I just didn't have a lot of options. I thought it was all very interesting, and clearly they have a strong grasp on functional tools to bypass the conscience BS filter normal, healthy, people are supposed to have.
Drug therapy and psychiatry (as an industry) helps people be better idiots, I think. The drugs that psychiatrists pass out like skittles do exactly what the propagandist needs them to do. They make you a careless, auto-piloted, idiot. An unconcerned and highly suggestible fool, willing to go along with anything no matter how stupid it obviously is:
Covid-19...