doi: 10.11607/ofph.2016.2.e Hypnosis has long moved away from the myths and mystery that have been shrouding it for decades. Today, there is no longer a doubt that hypnosis can serve as a potential therapeutic tool. The constantly increasing number of reports on hypnosis appearing in the scientific literature indicates an enduring willingness on the part of the scientific and clinical communiti...

Emily Carota Orne, wife of the late Martin T. Orne and his companion in research for almost 40 years, passed away on August 1, 2016, from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Emily Orne was born in Boston on September 7, 1938, to Ruth Farrell Carota and Emil Carota. As an undergraduate at Bennington College, she did a fieldwork term at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center, which brought her into co...

Meditation and hypnosis might be regarded as involving similar processes and skills. For example, both meditation and hypnosis are associated with high levels of absorption and imaginative capacity, and both can be used for self-regulation. Research has also shown that meditation improves attentional functioning, and that hypnotic response can involve attentional strategies. However, we argue t...

Thirty real, hypnotized subjects and 34 simulating, unhypnotized subjects were given either a suggestion to respond when they heard a cue (general) or a suggestion to respond when they heard a cue after hypnosis (posthypnotic). Half the subjects were given the cue during hypnosis (hypnotic test) and half were given it after hypnosis (posthypnotic test). Those who were given the cue during hypno...

Over the last few decades, an increasing number of functional neuroimaging studies have been performed with respect to hypnosis and meditation. The objective of this article is to review a number of these studies to compare the neural substrates related to different components of hypnosis and meditation. We examine neuroimaging studies conducted to explore the impact of hypnosis on the brain re...

Very highly hypnotizable subjects are rare, easily induced, and able to manifest the whole spectrum of hypnotic phenomena, including post-hypnotic amnesia. The aim of this study was to detect and localize by means of quantitative functional MRI and EEG changes in cortical activity during hypnosis induction and deep "pure hypnosis" in a hypnotic "virtuoso" subject. We focused on areas forming th...

In this paper we examine Freud's life and thinking, based on his collected works, and reevaluate some of his ideas in the light of various aspects of contemporary hypnosis research. Although Freud has often been blamed for simplistic thinking about hypnosis and for its eclipse during the opening decades of this century, his writings reveal a rich theory of hypnosis and a frank acknowledgement o...

In this brief survey of the medical uses of hypnosis the author attempts to clarify the various theories of hypnosis, indications for its use in medical practice, and applications in the treatment of psychosomatic disorders, psychiatric disorders and in miscellaneous cases. Brief descriptions of a variety of induction methods are given, and the potential hazards of hypnosis are explored. It is ...