What Hypnosis Really Does to Your Brain

[Tangy]

What Hypnosis Really Does to Your Brain





Most people agree that hypnosis does something to your brain — specifically something that makes people make fools of themselves at hypnotist shows. But how does it actually affect the human brain? Can it make people recall events perfectly? Are post-hypnotic suggestions a bunch of baloney? What is the truth about hypnotism?

Top image: Shutterstock.com

A History of Hypnosis

Nearly every culture in the world has a history of hypnotic trances. Some only considered them spiritual or eerie, but most began to make use of them as soon as they were discovered. India and China have ancient records showing hypnotic trances being used to relieve pain during surgery. The practice migrated to Europe, where in 1794 a young boy having an operation for a tumor was put under. The boy was Jacob Grimm, who grew up to write about quite a few hypnotic trances in his and his brother's book of fairy tales.

As ether and anesthesia came in, hypnosis went out. The medical community at large rejected its claims to pain reduction and hypnotic suggestions. Meanwhile, Hollywood embraced it as a plot device, adding on fantastic properties that made it seem still more outlandish to the public. It finally settled in the entertainment industry, where it does have the power to make people do extremely silly things, with extreme sincerity. (Watching some dead-serious kids give Grammy speeches as if they were Ricky Martin convinced me that hypnotism must have power over people.) But the extent of its power has always been debated.

How Hypnosis Affects the Brain

A person in a hypnotic state will appear tuned-out, and one of the marks of true hypnosis is a decrease in involuntary eye movement to the point where deeply hypnotized people will have to be reminded to blink. This gives an observer the impression that the hypnotized aren't paying attention. In fact, they're playing hyper-attention. Compared to a resting brain, many areas come online when a person is put into a hypnotic trance. All the areas that flare to life during hypnosis are also engaged when a person is concentrating on mental imagery — except one. Like many areas of the brain, the precuneus lights up during many different tasks, all of them having to do with a consciousness of self. It also deals with visuospatial aspects of the brain, letting us know where we are in space.

What Hypnosis Really Does to Your Brain

In essence, when we're hypnotized, people are able to concentrate intensely on self-created imagery (or imagery that suggested to them) but do not place their selves as part of that imagery. They've lost the reminder of what they personally do and what normal judgments they make, while increasing their ability to think about a whole range of imaginary situations. This explains the way adults can act out under the influence of hypnosis, or how they might remain calm and collected in situations that would otherwise terrify them. But how far does it go?

The Power of Hypnosis

One of the most incredible feats people under hypnosis are supposed to perform is the ability to remember details of a past event that a person has consciously forgotten. In movies everyone, under hypnosis, suddenly has a photographic memory (right up until they try to see the killer's face). There is debate, and some hypnotherapists claim that they have helped people retrace their steps through hypnosis and remember locations of, say, lost items or valuable papers.

But a larger study at Ohio State University cast doubt on whether hypnosis can actually enhance your memory to such an extent. When two groups of students, one hypnotized and one only relaxed, were asked about the dates of certain historical events, the groups performed equally well. The only difference was, when they were informed that there were some errors in their answers, the hypnotized group changed fewer answers than the unhypnotized group. Hypnosis got a more infamous reputation when it was used by psychologists to 'recover' lost memories, often of childhood abuse, that never happened.

What Hypnosis Really Does to Your Brain


But hypnosis does have the power to tap into memory in ways that other techniques do not. Most importantly, it has the ability to induce temporary, reversible amnesia. This condition is extremely rare, as many amnesiacs don't recover their memories, and some unlucky ones can't make new memories.

Although not all hypnotized patients can have their memories suppressed, and no one suppresses their memories unless they're told to, the effects can be startling. For one thing, the entire memory can be brought back with a word. This indicates that hypnosis doesn't obliterate memories, it just temporarily shuts off the retrieval system. One woman was told she couldn't remember the word 'six,' and so answered 'seven' to mathematical questions. A man forgot his own name. Any memory could be suppressed.

But the memory didn't go away. A group of students were hypnotized and told to forget a short film they had just watched. While unable to answer questions about the film, they had no problem remembering if the film was, for example, shot on a handheld camera. It was only the content that was suppressed. This ability to remember and react to the context of a thing without remembering the thing itself is the post-hypnotic suggestion. It's a suggested habit that makes sense in context (like reaching for a cell phone when hearing a ringtone) but not at that moment (if you deliberately left your cell phone at home). It just doesn't occur to the person to think of what they're reacting to before they react.

What Hypnosis Really Does to Your Brain


Another amazing hypnotic ability is, supposedly, suppression of pain. While it makes sense that people might feel less self-conscious, what with the part of their brain that feels self-consciousness offline, and that their perception might be altered by the part of the brain that governs perception, but pain is different. One of the primary functions of pain is to force someone out of the reverie they're in and make them pay attention to reality. Pain is the outside world breaking in.

But scientists studying perception think our experience is shaped far more by what we expect the stimulus to be than the stimulus itself. There are ten times as many nerve fibers carrying information down as carrying it up. Most people will have experienced feeling a shape in their pockets and being disoriented until they remember that it's a wadded up receipt, at which point the sensations seem familiar.

More to the point, most people will remember an itching or sting that, when they see a more serious injury than they expected, will blossom into pain. A hypnotized person undergoing surgery, for example, may be able to convince themselves that they're experiencing the discomfort of a bug bite instead of a scalpel. That, along with a state of enforced relaxation, can make all the difference.

But the shadiest aspect of hypnotism — what it can make an entranced person do — is still shrouded in mystery. Most hypnotists take pains to stress that no one is enslaved when they're in a hypnotized state, and that they can't be made to do something they don't want to do. Of course, that is the line they'd take. Scientists are, understandably, reluctant to give people the suggestion to murder someone under hypnosis, and test the results. Perhaps the best test of this isn't science, but history. Although there have always been legends of people under the direction of an evil puppet-master committing unspeakable acts against their will, there have been no actual cases. So don't worry about going to those hypnotist shows. Just . . . don't sit in the front.

Precuneus Image: Mysid Gray

Scalpel Image: Opto Scalpel

Dark Watch Image: Sinisa Botas on Shutterstock

Via Hypnosis Edu, ABC news, Scientific American, Science Direct.




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Larange

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"Scientists are, understandably, reluctant to give people the suggestion to murder someone under hypnosis, and test the results"

Why not give them a toy gun and say 'shoot this person'? I could understand the risk that later on the memory may resurface but if you afterward tell them not to or whatever it can't go too horribly wrong.

Also, what say you to the claims that people under hypnosis can remember 'past lives' (regardless of your beliefs in them)? My wife was once hypnotized and went into incredible detail about this past life she had, and her mom, and dad, and the time period etc. Do you think this is just a result of the imagination? 3/08/12 9:40pm



Kevoo

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"Do you think this is just a result of the imagination?"

Yes

That was easy, any other questions? Would you like to know if there is a monster in your closet or is it just your imagination?

Don't worry, no such thing as monsters... it just happens to be a mutated sloth that feeds on your sweat while you sleep. 3/08/12 10:19pm


Esther Inglis-Arkell

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As much as we can be, we're nice to each other on io9, Kevoo.

Larange, most recovered memories with hypnotherapy have been shown to be the therapist's prompting. In the past few decades, this led to some gruesome cases in which therapists uncovered abuse that never happened, ruining extended families. However, there's very little way to check on past lives, other than looking up the bare facts and seeing if the people that the patient remembered ever existed. I know there are books out there on the subject, but the only one I read was Michael Crichton's Travels. In it he describes a lot of New Age stuff, like seeing auras and visiting psychics. He mentioned that a hypnotherapist he trusted regressed him back to remembering a past life as a gladiator, but unlike the rest of the stuff in his book, which he said he was convinced was real, the past life seemed too obvious (why a gladiator and not some peasant in some country that he'd never heard of?) and so was unconvinced of the whole experience. 3/09/12 2:25am






Esther Inglis-Arkell and 8 others...

1Author is participating@

Omni-impotent

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Can everyone be hypnotized? Or are some people more susceptible to it? Also does it have to be done in one's mother-tongue? Soooooo many questions. 3/08/12 5:53pm



Esther Inglis-Arkell

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Hey Kent. While I was doing research, it looks like hypnotherapists say that some people are flat-out resistant to hypnotism, and that if someone doesn't want to be hypnotized and makes their mind up, they can't be. (They caution that people who don't necessarily want to be hypnotized can be if they don't realize what's happening.) The majority of people are able to go under, and another group of people can be deeply hypnotized. 3/08/12 6:02pm


Moleculor

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Making your mind up that you can't be hypnotized is, in itself, a suggestion they've made to themselves that makes it true. Just like any other suggestion of that type. 3/08/12 6:48pm






Moleculor and 3 others...

1Author is participating@

roboboy4prez

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I think it has more to do with the ego (the nietzschean ego) of the subject rather than the actual "power" of hypnosis. My own hypothesis is that when someone undergoes hypnosis, they are essentially given the excuse that they are being hypnotized, and are able to let their own ego go and are more free to express themselves and convey information that they may "suppress". I don't think it's a conscience decision, but more of an sub conscience one. Kinda like a mind inebriation...if you will; vis a vie; concordantely...crap :/

EDIT: Not to argue with this article, I do find it fascinating! I also recognize that people usually see my comments as trolling... 3/08/12 7:01pm



Esther Inglis-Arkell

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This is interesting. I looked, while reading this, at bulletin boards in which people who had been hypnotized talked about it. One person said they were told to think that the hypnotist was naked, and although he could see that she was wearing clothes, for some reason he acted as if she wasn't, looking away from her. He mentioned that he was only lightly hypnotized. 3/09/12 2:29am


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volim

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What happens if you tell someone he can not be hypnotized when he is under hypnosis? Regardless what the answer is, yes or no, logically, it is a paradox.

And it brings us another question: does the target have to be willing to be hypnotized for it to work? Can mental resistance prevent a hypnosis? 3/08/12 5:51pm



Esther Inglis-Arkell

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"What happens if you tell someone he can not be hypnotized when he is under hypnosis?"

They explode.

And yes, all the people I read about say that if you set your mind against being hypnotized, you can't be. Some say that if you don't realize you're being hypnotized, and so don't know to be resistant, you can sometimes be hypnotized lightly. 3/08/12 6:03pm


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bokscutter

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What about when you hypnotize someone and a demon starts speaking to you and they start floating? Has anyone researched this behavior? 3/08/12 5:04pm



Esther Inglis-Arkell

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Then you quietly leave the room and send your bill to their next-of-kin. 3/08/12 6:04pm


wagnerrp

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I understand Bill Murray has done extensive research in this area. 3/08/12 11:30pm


1Author is participating@

Keshie

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Very good article. But then: "When a two groups of students,...."

We've been seeing basic errors like this creeping in all the time over the last year.

Now is the time for me to submit that Gawker management is perhaps overworking its humble writing staff.

Where is the love? I think the staffers should be given a free bar, individual offices and a 20% immediate payrise. Also, complimentary massages/foot rubs/physios/health reviews for the freelancers and guests.

We'll still read io9 if these suggestions are ignored but I expect the writing will become a lot more interesting if they aren't :) 3/08/12 6:48pm



Esther Inglis-Arkell

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Fixed! I will pass on your suggestions about the raise and the bar. 3/09/12 2:33am


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FrankN.Stein

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... 3/09/12 5:47am



2 participants@

Discord the Draconequus

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... 3/08/12 4:07pm



Ash (Not From Pallet Town)

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O__________o

ALL HAIL HYPNOTOAD.... 3/08/12 4:37pm


Fauxcused

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Thanks. I started staring at the picture and the next thing I knew 4.5 hours had passed... 3/09/12 5:57am


2 participants@

Sirilicious

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"In fact, they're playing hyper-attention."

#corrections 3/09/12 1:41am



shufflemoomin

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Hyper-attention. Where points mean prizes. 3/09/12 2:46am


Sirilicious

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No no, the correction is actually hyperrat-tention. Every player has to bare handedly hold a live rat on speed and the one that holds on longest, wins. Harming or killing your rat is a big no-no and will disqualify you for the rest of the season. 3/09/12 4:51am


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Wendy_Kroy

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I tried hypnosis once, from a highly recommended therapist, and it didn't work at all - I found the hypnotist's voice grating, I was distracted by the sound of traffic outside, I kept thinking of my plans for the weekend. I'm capable of intense concentration sometimes, and can completely lose myself in a book or film, but nothing at all happened when I tried hypnotherapy. I wonder if I'm really just immune to it, or if subconsciously I was refusing to be hypnotized even though my conscious mind was totally on board for the experiment. 3/09/12 3:44pm



Brother James

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Do you think the result may have been different in, say, a quieter environment or with a hypnotist who had a less grating voice? Curious, because sometimes I tend to try something once and if it doesn't work for me, I write it off, but maybe if I tried and tried again, the successes would outweigh the failures.

Just a thought 3/10/12 1:09pm


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mayssm

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The last time I was hypnotized, it ended with my place of employment burning down. I did get a promotion out of it first though. 3/09/12 6:46am



Nekheny

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Have you seen my stapler? 3/09/12 10:31am


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scott195

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I'm a professional hypnotist that works on staff in a dental office for pain control, a medical office for anxiety reduction (high blood pressure, etc) and a drug rehab center. I've been doing this for 14 years and have seen just about every kind of case and client you could imagine.

For the memory stuff, look at the studies on state dependent memory from Ernest Rossi, and you will see it's a neuro-modulator shift that makes this happen. It's not flawless or lie detection, but it's measurable and memory can be dramatically improved (or like the article mentioned, temporarily repressed).

"...what it can make an entranced person do — is still shrouded in mystery." I don't think that's accurate. More accurate would be words like debated, misunderstood, or inconclusive. Here's why:

Not everyone responds to hypnosis the same way, and not everyone responds to the same processes, techniques, or practitioners equally. Just like medication, coaches, friendships, teachers, etc. there are variables that come into the equation that dramatically impact efficacy. For this reason one person conducting a study could get entirely different results than someone else working with the same individuals.

For this reason, it's usually best to look at a meta-analysis of the clinical studies and data.

I could go on, but you get the idea.

Anyone looking for good books on the subject should look at Michael Yapko or Roy Hunter. A good free website for a collection of videos and discussions is hypnothoughts.com 3/09/12 9:59am



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copleysq

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people get hypnotized by certain reading patterns they learn, then they

believe they are thinking. but they do not analyze, or think critically. they are swept

along in a tsunami of opinion. this happens to, e g, bible readers, as they then reject

any thought patterns not in conformity with the program they have absorbed. then they vote

for gop. it also happens to many students who go through life as mental slaves of

doctrines. journalists exploit the slavery to rhythm as editors convince by their mass

medium outlet having a style folks are seduced by. this is done professionally. the medium

is the rhythm of the message. i hope the bright will mobilize enough numbers of

swords/votes...the dummies cannot be convinced objectively. 3/14/12 6:15pm

[Jadit]

Do you have also links to original sources for the texts? It didn't come apparent which parts were written by you, or copied elsewhere. Interesting read nonetheless.

[Tangy]

Do you have also links to original sources for the texts? It didn't come apparent which parts were written by you, or copied elsewhere. Interesting read nonetheless.

What Hypnosis Really Does to Your Brain - io9



io9.com/5891504/what-hypnosis-really-does-to-your-brain?




Mar 8, 2012 - Most people agree that hypnosis does something to your brain — specifically something that makes people make fools of themselves at ...
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