Segregated brain state during hypnosis

Abstract Can the brain be shifted into a different state using simple social cue, as tests on highly hypnotizable subjects would suggest? Demonstrating an altered global is difficult. Brain activation varies greatly during wakefulness and can voluntarily influenced. We measured complexity of electrophysiological response to transcranial magnetic stimulation in one ‘hypnotic virtuoso’. Such measure produces arguably outside subject’s voluntary control has been proven adequate for discriminating conscious from unconscious states. show that single-word hypnotic induction robustly neural connectivity where activity remained sustained but failed ignite strong, coherent frontoparietal cortices. Changes perturbational indicate similar move towards more segregated state. interpret these findings suggest shift underlying brain, likely moderating subsequent responding.