Functional neuroimaging studies show that hypnosis affects attention by modulating anterior cingulate cortex activation and uncoupling conflict monitoring and cognitive control function. Considering functional changes in the activation of the occipital and temporal cortices, precuneus, and other extrastriate visual areas, which account for hypnosis-induced altered reality perception, the role o...

Editor—Hypnosis in place of, or as an adjuvant to, conventional anaesthetic can be beneficial to both patients and healthcare professionals. We would like to highlight our experience with a patient who underwent bilateral elective ankle arthroscopy under self-hypnosis. A 62-yr-old male with severe ankle osteoarthritis was listed for bilateral ankle arthroscopy. The patient had previously underg...

This article critiques two studies conducted by Jacobson and colleagues whose findings indicated that hypnosis hinders encoding and might not be useful in education. While their findings provide important information about hypnosis and its possible uses in teaching and learning, there are several important methodological and interpretive shortcomings that limit the applicability of the study. I...

Cognitive-behavioral therapy for pathological gambling has a long-term success rate of more than 50%. This study evaluated the effect of self-hypnosis in cognitive-behavioral treatment of pathological gamblers. Forty-nine participants were assigned to 2 groups. Both groups received a cognitive-behavioral protocol, and Group 1, the no-hypnosis group, received an 11-session intervention and Group...

According to the frontal inhibition account of hypnosis, many of the phenomena traditionally associated with hypnosis, such as the suspension of reality testing and loss of planning functions, come about because hypnosis produces decrements in frontal lobe performance. In line with this view, previous studies investigating the frontal inhibition account of hypnosis have found that phonemic flue...

OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of age on responsiveness to self-hypnotic relaxation as an analgesic adjunct in patients undergoing invasive medical procedures. MATERIAL AND METHODS Secondary data analysis from a prospective trial with 241 patients randomized to receive hypnosis, attention, and standard care treatment during interventional radiological procedures. Growth curve analyses, hier...

The following article identifies practical uses of hypnosis within midwifery. The author and her team teaches clinical hypnosis at 11 medical schools in the UK.

The neurophysiological substrates of hypnosis have been subject to speculation since the phenomenon got its name. Until recently, much of this research has been geared toward understanding hypnosis itself, including the biological bases of individual differences in hypnotizability, state-dependent changes in cortical activity occurring with the induction of hypnosis, and the neural correlates o...

BACKGROUND Childbirth is a demanding event in a woman's life. The aim of this study was to explore whether a brief intervention in the form of an antenatal course in self-hypnosis to ease childbirth could improve the childbirth experience. METHOD In a randomized, controlled, single-blinded trial, 1,222 healthy nulliparous women were allocated to one of three groups during pregnancy: A hypnosi...

and valid clinical tool used by a wide variety of health care professionals. Since the 18 century, hypnosis has been practiced in varying styles and approach, from Anton Mesmer's use of his own perceived animal magnetism, to Sigmund Freud's authoritarian and directive style, to that of Milton Erickson's flexible and utilitarian approach. As practiced by Freud and others in the last century, hyp...