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 | Main Concepts |
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| | Hypnosis |
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| | Terminology |
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| | Hypnotherapy |
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Research
Much clinical research has been conducted into the nature and effects of hypnosis and suggestion, and hypnosis continues to be a popular (if somewhat peripheral) tool in contemporary psychological research. A number of different strands of hypnosis research are apparent: that which examines the state of hypnosis itself, that which examines the effects and properties of suggestions in and out of hypnosis, and that which examines the effects on pain relief, and when combined adjunctively with other therapeutic techniques it has been demonstrated to be effective for weight loss, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), anxiety conditions and many more. Recently, there are reports that efforts to reduce obesity with hypnosis (when used in combination with cognitive behavioral therapy, exercise, and a low-fat diet) may be effective.
Clinical studies
In 1996, the National Institutes of Health technology assessment panel judged hypnosis to be an effective intervention for alleviating pain from cancer and other chronic conditions. A large number of clinical studies also indicate that hypnosis can reduce the acute pain experienced by patients undergoing burn-wound debridement, enduring bone marrow aspirations and childbirth. An analysis published in a recent issue of the International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, for example, found that hypnotic suggestions relieved the pain of 75% of 933 subjects participating in 27 different experiments.
Brain imaging
With the recent advent of new brain imaging techniques, there has been an interest in the relationship between hypnosis and brain function. Any human experience is reflected in some way in the brain – seeing colors or motion is underscored by activity in the visual cortex, feeling fear is mediated by activity in the amygdala – and so hypnosis and suggestion are expected to have observable effects upon brain function. An important issue for researchers conducting brain imaging is to separate the effects of hypnosis and suggestion — knowing that a suggestion given during hypnosis affects brain area X does not just tell us about hypnosis, it tells us about the effects of the suggestion too. To account for this, experiments need to include a non-hypnotic-response-to-suggestion condition —only this way can the specific effects of hypnosis be examined.
A number of brain-imaging studies have been conducted on hypnotized subjects. A selection of these studies are explained and summarized below:
One controlled scientific experiment postulates that hypnosis may alter our perception of conscious experience in a way not possible when people are not "hypnotized", at least in "highly hypnotizable" people. In this experiment, color perception was changed by hypnosis in "highly hypnotizable" people.
Skeptics dispute the significance of such findings, claiming that such changes cannot be shown to be particular to the hypnotized state, and that any other action such as daydreaming is also likely to alter brain activity in some manner. However, recent studies have shown that hypnotized subjects suggested to experience auditory hallucinations, regional blood flow in the same areas of the brain as real hearing, whereas in subjects merely engaged in vividly imagining hearing noises, this did not occur. The subject is still a matter of current research and scientific debate.
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