1
|
Acunzo DJ, Oakley DA, Terhune DB. The neurochemistry of hypnotic suggestion. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL HYPNOSIS 2021; 63:355-371. [PMID: 33999774 DOI: 10.1080/00029157.2020.1865869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
A diverse array of studies has been devoted to understanding the neurochemical systems supporting responsiveness to hypnotic suggestions, with implications for experimental and clinical applications of hypnosis. However, this body of research has only rarely been integrated and critically evaluated and the prospects for the reliable pharmacological manipulation of hypnotic suggestibility remain poorly understood. Here we draw on pharmacological, genotyping, neuroimaging, and electrophysiological research to synthesize current knowledge regarding the potential role of multiple widely-studied neurochemicals in response to suggestion. Although we reveal multiple limitations with this body of evidence, we identify converging results implicating different neurochemical systems in response to hypnotic suggestion. We conclude by assessing the extent to which different results align or diverge and outline multiple avenues for future research. Elucidating the neurochemical systems underlying response to suggestion has the potential to significantly advance our understanding of suggestion.
Collapse
|
2
|
De Pascalis V, Scacchia P, Vecchio A. Influences of hypnotic suggestibility, contextual factors, and EEG alpha on placebo analgesia. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL HYPNOSIS 2021; 63:302-328. [PMID: 33999775 DOI: 10.1080/00029157.2020.1863182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
We tested the role of hypnotic suggestibility, involuntariness, pain expectation, and subjective hypnotic depth in the prediction of placebo analgesia (PA) responsiveness. We also tested the link of lower and upper alpha sub-band (i.e., 'alpha1' and 'alpha2') power changes with tonic PA responding during waking and hypnosis conditions. Following an initial PA manipulation condition, we recorded EEG activity during waking and hypnosis under two treatments: (1) painful stimulation (Pain); (2) painful stimulation after application of a PA cream. Alpha1 and alpha2 power were derived using the individual alpha frequency method. We found that (1) PA in both waking and hypnosis conditions significantly reduced relative pain perception; (2) during waking, all the above mentioned contextual measures were associated with pain reduction, while involuntariness alone was associated with pain reduction within hypnosis. Enhanced alpha2 power at the left-parietal lead was solely associated with pain reduction in waking, but not in hypnosis condition. Using multiple regression and mediation analyses we found that: (i) during waking, the enhancement of relative left-parietal alpha2 power, directly influenced the enhancement in pain reduction, and, indirectly, through the mediating positive effect of involuntariness; (j) during hypnosis, the enhancement of left-temporoparietal alpha2 power, through the mediation of involuntariness, influenced pain reduction. Current findings obtained during waking suggest that enhanced alpha2 power may serve as a direct-objective measure of the subjective reduction of tonic pain in response to PA treatment. Overall, our findings suggest that placebo analgesia during waking and hypnosis involves different processes of top-down regulation.
Collapse
|
3
|
Perez DL, Nicholson TR, Asadi-Pooya AA, Bègue I, Butler M, Carson AJ, David AS, Deeley Q, Diez I, Edwards MJ, Espay AJ, Gelauff JM, Hallett M, Horovitz SG, Jungilligens J, Kanaan RAA, Tijssen MAJ, Kozlowska K, LaFaver K, LaFrance WC, Lidstone SC, Marapin RS, Maurer CW, Modirrousta M, Reinders AATS, Sojka P, Staab JP, Stone J, Szaflarski JP, Aybek S. Neuroimaging in Functional Neurological Disorder: State of the Field and Research Agenda. Neuroimage Clin 2021; 30:102623. [PMID: 34215138 PMCID: PMC8111317 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102623] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2021] [Accepted: 03/03/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Functional neurological disorder (FND) was of great interest to early clinical neuroscience leaders. During the 20th century, neurology and psychiatry grew apart - leaving FND a borderland condition. Fortunately, a renaissance has occurred in the last two decades, fostered by increased recognition that FND is prevalent and diagnosed using "rule-in" examination signs. The parallel use of scientific tools to bridge brain structure - function relationships has helped refine an integrated biopsychosocial framework through which to conceptualize FND. In particular, a growing number of quality neuroimaging studies using a variety of methodologies have shed light on the emerging pathophysiology of FND. This renewed scientific interest has occurred in parallel with enhanced interdisciplinary collaborations, as illustrated by new care models combining psychological and physical therapies and the creation of a new multidisciplinary FND society supporting knowledge dissemination in the field. Within this context, this article summarizes the output of the first International FND Neuroimaging Workgroup meeting, held virtually, on June 17th, 2020 to appraise the state of neuroimaging research in the field and to catalyze large-scale collaborations. We first briefly summarize neural circuit models of FND, and then detail the research approaches used to date in FND within core content areas: cohort characterization; control group considerations; task-based functional neuroimaging; resting-state networks; structural neuroimaging; biomarkers of symptom severity and risk of illness; and predictors of treatment response and prognosis. Lastly, we outline a neuroimaging-focused research agenda to elucidate the pathophysiology of FND and aid the development of novel biologically and psychologically-informed treatments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David L Perez
- Departments of Neurology and Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Timothy R Nicholson
- Section of Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Ali A Asadi-Pooya
- Epilepsy Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz Iran; Department of Neurology, Jefferson Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Indrit Bègue
- Division of Adult Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, University of Geneva, Geneva Switzerland; Service of Neurology Department of Clinical Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Matthew Butler
- Section of Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Alan J Carson
- Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, EH16 4SB, UK
| | - Anthony S David
- Institute of Mental Health, University College London, London, UK
| | - Quinton Deeley
- South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, London UK Institute of Psychiatry Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Ibai Diez
- Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Mark J Edwards
- Neurosciences Research Centre, St George's University of London, London, UK
| | - Alberto J Espay
- James J. and Joan A. Gardner Center for Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders, Department of Neurology, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA
| | - Jeannette M Gelauff
- Department of Neurology, Amsterdam UMC, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, de Boelelaan 1117, Amsterdam, Netherlands
| | - Mark Hallett
- Human Motor Control Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Silvina G Horovitz
- Human Motor Control Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Johannes Jungilligens
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital Knappschaftskrankenhaus Bochum, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany
| | - Richard A A Kanaan
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Austin Health Heidelberg, Australia
| | - Marina A J Tijssen
- Expertise Center Movement Disorders Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Kasia Kozlowska
- The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Westmead Institute of Medical Research, University of Sydney Medical School, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Kathrin LaFaver
- Department of Neurology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - W Curt LaFrance
- Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, Rhode Island Hospital, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
| | - Sarah C Lidstone
- Edmond J. Safra Program in Parkinson's Disease and the Morton and Gloria Shulman Movement Disorders Clinic, University Health Network and the University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Ramesh S Marapin
- Expertise Center Movement Disorders Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Carine W Maurer
- Department of Neurology, Stony Brook University Renaissance School of Medicine, Stony Brook, NY, USA
| | - Mandana Modirrousta
- Department of Psychiatry, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, Canada
| | - Antje A T S Reinders
- Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Petr Sojka
- Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Jeffrey P Staab
- Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology and Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Mayo Clinic Rochester, MN, USA
| | - Jon Stone
- Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, EH16 4SB, UK
| | - Jerzy P Szaflarski
- University of Alabama at Birmingham Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Selma Aybek
- Neurology Department, Psychosomatic Medicine Unit, Bern University Hospital Inselspital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Oakley DA, Walsh E, Mehta MA, Halligan PW, Deeley Q. Direct verbal suggestibility: Measurement and significance. Conscious Cogn 2021; 89:103036. [DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2020.103036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2019] [Revised: 08/19/2020] [Accepted: 10/09/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
|
5
|
Oakley DA, Walsh E, Lillelokken AM, Halligan PW, Mehta MA, Deeley Q. UNITED KINGDOM NORMS FOR THE HARVARD GROUP SCALE OF HYPNOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY, FORM A. Int J Clin Exp Hypn 2020; 68:80-104. [PMID: 31914370 DOI: 10.1080/00207144.2020.1682257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
The Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility, Form A (HGSHS:A), is widely used as a measure of suggestibility to screen participants for research purposes. To date, there have been a number of normative studies of the HGSHS:A, the majority of which originate from Western countries. The outcomes of these Western studies are summarized, and variations in methodologies are described and discussed. Also reported are the psychometric properties of the HGSHS:A in a large contemporary United Kingdom (UK) sample. Overall, these UK results are consistent with the earlier Western norms studies in terms of response distribution and item difficulty, with only minor differences. The continued use of HGSHS:A as a screening procedure is supported, particularly if corrected for response subjectivity/involuntariness and with revised amnesia scoring. The HGSHS:A is also important as a potential measure of the broader trait of direct verbal suggestibility.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David A Oakley
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, UK.,School of Psychology, Cardiff University, UK
| | - Eamonn Walsh
- Cultural and Social Neuroscience Research Group, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, UK
| | - Ann-Mari Lillelokken
- Cultural and Social Neuroscience Research Group, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, UK
| | | | - Mitul A Mehta
- Cultural and Social Neuroscience Research Group, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, UK
| | - Quinton Deeley
- Cultural and Social Neuroscience Research Group, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, UK
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Rainville P, Streff A, Chen JI, Houzé B, Desmarteaux C, Piché M. HYPNOTIC AUTOMATICITY IN THE BRAIN AT REST: An Arterial Spin Labelling Study. Int J Clin Exp Hypn 2019; 67:512-542. [PMID: 31526265 DOI: 10.1080/00207144.2019.1650578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
The feeling of automaticity reported by individuals undergoing a hypnotic procedure is an essential dimension of hypnosis phenomenology. In the present study, healthy participants rated their subjective experience of automaticity and resting-state arterial spin labelling (ASL) scans were acquired before and after a standard hypnotic induction (i.e., "neutral hypnosis"). The increase in perceived automaticity was positively associated with activity in the parietal operculum (PO) and seed-based coactivation analysis revealed additional associations in the anterior part of the supracallosal cingulate cortex (aMCC). This is consistent with the role of these regions in perceived self-agency and volition and demonstrates that these effects can be evidenced at rest, in the absence of overt motor challenges. Future studies should further examine if/how these changes in brain activity associated with automaticity might facilitate the responses to suggestions and contribute to clinical benefits of hypnosis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pierre Rainville
- Department of Stomatology, University of Montreal, Research Centre of the University Institute of Geriatrics of Montreal , Canada
| | - Anouk Streff
- Research Centre of the University Institute of Geriatrics of Montreal , Canada
| | - Jen-I Chen
- Department of Stomatology, University of Montreal, Research Centre of the University Institute of Geriatrics of Montreal , Canada
| | - Bérengère Houzé
- Research Centre of the University Institute of Geriatrics of Montreal , Canada
| | - Carolane Desmarteaux
- Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Research Centre of the University Institute of Geriatrics of Montreal , Canada
| | - Mathieu Piché
- Department of Chiropractic and CogNAC Research Group, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières , Canada
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Oakley DA, Halligan PW. Chasing the Rainbow: The Non-conscious Nature of Being. Front Psychol 2017; 8:1924. [PMID: 29184516 PMCID: PMC5694471 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2017] [Accepted: 10/17/2017] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite the compelling subjective experience of executive self-control, we argue that “consciousness” contains no top-down control processes and that “consciousness” involves no executive, causal, or controlling relationship with any of the familiar psychological processes conventionally attributed to it. In our view, psychological processing and psychological products are not under the control of consciousness. In particular, we argue that all “contents of consciousness” are generated by and within non-conscious brain systems in the form of a continuous self-referential personal narrative that is not directed or influenced in any way by the “experience of consciousness.” This continuously updated personal narrative arises from selective “internal broadcasting” of outputs from non-conscious executive systems that have access to all forms of cognitive processing, sensory information, and motor control. The personal narrative provides information for storage in autobiographical memory and is underpinned by constructs of self and agency, also created in non-conscious systems. The experience of consciousness is a passive accompaniment to the non-conscious processes of internal broadcasting and the creation of the personal narrative. In this sense, personal awareness is analogous to the rainbow which accompanies physical processes in the atmosphere but exerts no influence over them. Though it is an end-product created by non-conscious executive systems, the personal narrative serves the powerful evolutionary function of enabling individuals to communicate (externally broadcast) the contents of internal broadcasting. This in turn allows recipients to generate potentially adaptive strategies, such as predicting the behavior of others and underlies the development of social and cultural structures, that promote species survival. Consequently, it is the capacity to communicate to others the contents of the personal narrative that confers an evolutionary advantage—not the experience of consciousness (personal awareness) itself.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- David A Oakley
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, United Kingdom.,School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Peter W Halligan
- School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Oscillatory brain mechanisms of the hypnotically-induced out-of-body experience. Cortex 2017; 96:19-30. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2017.08.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2017] [Revised: 06/11/2017] [Accepted: 08/22/2017] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
|
9
|
Hypnosis and top-down regulation of consciousness. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2017; 81:59-74. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 71] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2016] [Accepted: 02/02/2017] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
|
10
|
Jensen MP, Jamieson GA, Lutz A, Mazzoni G, McGeown WJ, Santarcangelo EL, Demertzi A, De Pascalis V, Bányai ÉI, Rominger C, Vuilleumier P, Faymonville ME, Terhune DB. New directions in hypnosis research: strategies for advancing the cognitive and clinical neuroscience of hypnosis. Neurosci Conscious 2017; 3:nix004. [PMID: 29034102 PMCID: PMC5635845 DOI: 10.1093/nc/nix004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2016] [Revised: 02/24/2017] [Accepted: 03/01/2017] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
This article summarizes key advances in hypnosis research during the past two decades, including (i) clinical research supporting the efficacy of hypnosis for managing a number of clinical symptoms and conditions, (ii) research supporting the role of various divisions in the anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortices in hypnotic responding, and (iii) an emerging finding that high hypnotic suggestibility is associated with atypical brain connectivity profiles. Key recommendations for a research agenda for the next decade include the recommendations that (i) laboratory hypnosis researchers should strongly consider how they assess hypnotic suggestibility in their studies, (ii) inclusion of study participants who score in the middle range of hypnotic suggestibility, and (iii) use of expanding research designs that more clearly delineate the roles of inductions and specific suggestions. Finally, we make two specific suggestions for helping to move the field forward including (i) the use of data sharing and (ii) redirecting resources away from contrasting state and nonstate positions toward studying (a) the efficacy of hypnotic treatments for clinical conditions influenced by central nervous system processes and (b) the neurophysiological underpinnings of hypnotic phenomena. As we learn more about the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying hypnosis and suggestion, we will strengthen our knowledge of both basic brain functions and a host of different psychological functions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mark P Jensen
- Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98104, USA
| | - Graham A Jamieson
- School of Behavioural, Cognitive, and Social Sciences, University of New England, Armidale, Australia
| | | | | | - William J McGeown
- School of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of Strathclyde, UK
| | - Enrica L Santarcangelo
- Department of Translational Research and New Technologies, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Athena Demertzi
- Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière (ICM), Hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France and Coma Science Group, GIGA Research, University and University hospital of Liège, Belgium
| | | | - Éva I Bányai
- Department of Psychology, University of Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
| | | | - Patrik Vuilleumier
- Department of Neuroscience, Laboratory for Behavioral Neurology and Imaging of Cognition, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | | | - Devin B Terhune
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Flamand-Roze C, Célestin-Lhopiteau I, Roze E. Hypnosis and movement disorders: State of the art and perspectives. Rev Neurol (Paris) 2016; 172:530-536. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neurol.2016.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2016] [Revised: 05/01/2016] [Accepted: 07/11/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
|
12
|
Can motor imagery and hypnotic susceptibility explain Conversion Disorder with motor symptoms? Neuropsychologia 2016; 89:287-298. [PMID: 27346334 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.06.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2016] [Revised: 06/08/2016] [Accepted: 06/22/2016] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Marked distortions in sense of agency can be induced by hypnosis in susceptible individuals, including alterations in subjective awareness of movement initiation and control. These distortions, with associated disability, are similar to those experienced with Conversion Disorder (CD), an observation that has led to the hypothesis that hypnosis and CD share causal mechanisms. The purpose of this review is to explore the relationships among motor imagery (MI), hypnotic susceptibility, and CD, then to propose how MI ability may contribute to hypnotic responding and CD. Studies employing subjective assessments of mental imagery have found little association between imagery abilities and hypnotic susceptibility. A positive association between imagery abilities and hypnotic susceptibility becomes apparent when objective measures of imagery ability are employed. A candidate mechanism to explain motor responses during hypnosis is kinaesthetic MI, which engages a strategy that involves proprioception or the "feel" of movement when no movement occurs. Motor suppression imagery (MSI), a strategy involving inhibition of movement, may provide an alternate objective measurable phenomenon that underlies both hypnotic susceptibility and CD. Evidence to date supports the idea that there may be a positive association between kinaesthetic MI ability and hypnotic susceptibility. Additional evidence supports a positive association between hypnotic susceptibility and CD. Disturbances in kinaesthetic MI performance in CD patients indicate that MI mechanisms may also underlie CD symptoms. Further investigation of the above relationships is warranted to explain these phenomena, and establish theoretical explanations underlying sense of agency.
Collapse
|
13
|
Abstract
In the 19th century it was recognized that neurologic symptoms could be caused by "morbid ideation" as well as organic lesions. The subsequent observation that hysteric (now called "functional") symptoms could be produced and removed by hypnotic suggestion led Charcot to hypothesize that suggestion mediated the effects of ideas on hysteric symptoms through as yet unknown effects on brain activity. The advent of neuroimaging 100 years later revealed strikingly similar neural correlates in experiments matching functional symptoms with clinical analogs created by suggestion. Integrative models of suggested and functional symptoms regard these alterations in brain function as the endpoint of a broader set of changes in information processing due to suggestion. These accounts consider that suggestions alter experience by mobilizing representations from memory systems, and altering causal attributions, during preconscious processing which alters the content of what is provided to our highly edited subjective version of the world. Hypnosis as a model for functional symptoms draws attention to how radical alterations in experience and behavior can conform to the content of mental representations through effects on cognition and brain function. Experimental study of functional symptoms and their suggested counterparts in hypnosis reveals the distinct and shared processes through which this can occur.
Collapse
|
14
|
Walsh E, Guilmette DN, Longo MR, Moore JW, Oakley DA, Halligan PW, Mehta MA, Deeley Q. Are You Suggesting That's My Hand? The Relation Between Hypnotic Suggestibility and the Rubber Hand Illusion. Perception 2015; 44:709-23. [PMID: 26489211 DOI: 10.1177/0301006615594266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Hypnotic suggestibility (HS) is the ability to respond automatically to suggestions and to experience alterations in perception and behavior. Hypnotically suggestible participants are also better able to focus and sustain their attention on an experimental stimulus. The present study explores the relation between HS and susceptibility to the rubber hand illusion (RHI). Based on previous research with visual illusions, it was predicted that higher HS would lead to a stronger RHI. Two behavioral output measures of the RHI, an implicit (proprioceptive drift) and an explicit (RHI questionnaire) measure, were correlated against HS scores. Hypnotic suggestibility correlated positively with the implicit RHI measure contributing to 30% of the variation. However, there was no relation between HS and the explicit RHI questionnaire measure, or with compliance control items. High hypnotic suggestibility may facilitate, via attentional mechanisms, the multisensory integration of visuoproprioceptive inputs that leads to greater perceptual mislocalization of a participant's hand. These results may provide insight into the multisensory brain mechanisms involved in our sense of embodiment.
Collapse
|
15
|
Cojan Y, Piguet C, Vuilleumier P. What makes your brain suggestible? Hypnotizability is associated with differential brain activity during attention outside hypnosis. Neuroimage 2015; 117:367-74. [PMID: 26049149 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.05.076] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2015] [Revised: 05/23/2015] [Accepted: 05/26/2015] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
UNLABELLED Theoretical models of hypnosis have emphasized the importance of attentional processes in accounting for hypnotic phenomena but their exact nature and brain substrates remain unresolved. Individuals vary in their susceptibility to hypnosis, a variability often attributed to differences in attentional functioning such as greater ability to filter irrelevant information and inhibit prepotent responses. However, behavioral studies of attentional performance outside the hypnotic state have provided conflicting results. We used fMRI to investigate the recruitment of attentional networks during a modified flanker task in High and Low hypnotizable participants. The task was performed in a normal (no hypnotized) state. While behavioral performance did not reliably differ between groups, components of the fronto-parietal executive network implicated in monitoring (anterior cingulate cortex; ACC), adjustment (lateral prefrontal cortex; latPFC), and implementation of attentional control (intraparietal sulcus; IPS) were differently activated depending on the hypnotizability of the subjects: the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) was more recruited, whereas IPS and ACC were less recruited by High susceptible individuals compared to Low. Our results demonstrate that susceptibility to hypnosis is associated with particular executive control capabilities allowing efficient attentional focusing, and point to specific neural substrates in right prefrontal cortex. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT We demonstrated that outside hypnosis, low hypnotizable subjects recruited more parietal cortex and anterior cingulate regions during selective attention conditions suggesting a better detection and implementation of conflict. However, outside hypnosis the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) was more recruited by highly hypnotizable subjects during selective attention conditions suggesting a better control of conflict. Furthermore, in highly hypnotizable subjects this region was more connected to the default mode network suggesting a tight dialogue between internally and externally driven processes that may permit higher flexibility in attention and underlie a greater ability to dissociate.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yann Cojan
- Department of Neuroscience, University Medical School, University of Geneva, 1 rue Michel Servet, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; Centre for Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
| | - Camille Piguet
- Department of Neuroscience, University Medical School, University of Geneva, 1 rue Michel Servet, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; Centre for Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
| | - Patrik Vuilleumier
- Department of Neuroscience, University Medical School, University of Geneva, 1 rue Michel Servet, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; Centre for Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Ludwig VU, Seitz J, Schönfeldt-Lecuona C, Höse A, Abler B, Hole G, Goebel R, Walter H. The neural correlates of movement intentions: A pilot study comparing hypnotic and simulated paralysis. Conscious Cogn 2015; 35:158-70. [PMID: 26036837 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2015.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2014] [Revised: 04/27/2015] [Accepted: 05/14/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The distinct feeling of wanting to act and thereby causing our own actions is crucial to our self-perception as free human agents. Disturbances of the link between intention and action occur in several disorders. Little is known, however, about the neural correlates of wanting or intending to act. To investigate these for simple voluntary movements, we used a paradigm involving hypnotic paralysis and functional magnetic resonance imaging. Eight healthy women were instructed to sequentially perform left and right hand movements during a normal condition, as well as during simulated weakness, simulated paralysis and hypnotic paralysis of the right hand. Right frontopolar cortex was selectively hypoactivated for attempted right hand movement during simulated paralysis while it was active in all other conditions. Since simulated paralysis was the only condition lacking an intention to move, the activation in frontopolar cortex might be related to the intention or volition to move.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vera U Ludwig
- Division of Mind and Brain Research, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany; Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany.
| | - Jochen Seitz
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, University Hospital, RWTH University Aachen, Neuenhofer Weg 21, 52074 Aachen, Germany; Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands.
| | - Carlos Schönfeldt-Lecuona
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy III, University Hospital Ulm, Leimgrubenweg 12-14, 89075 Ulm, Germany.
| | - Annett Höse
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy III, University Hospital Ulm, Leimgrubenweg 12-14, 89075 Ulm, Germany.
| | - Birgit Abler
- Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy III, University Hospital Ulm, Leimgrubenweg 12-14, 89075 Ulm, Germany.
| | - Günter Hole
- Aus- und Weiterbildungsinstitut für Hypnosetherapie, Kantstr. 5/3, D-88213 Ravensburg, Germany
| | - Rainer Goebel
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; Maastricht Brain Imaging Centre, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands.
| | - Henrik Walter
- Division of Mind and Brain Research, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany; Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Walsh E, Oakley DA, Halligan PW, Mehta MA, Deeley Q. The functional anatomy and connectivity of thought insertion and alien control of movement. Cortex 2015; 64:380-93. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2014.09.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2014] [Revised: 08/25/2014] [Accepted: 09/02/2014] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
|
18
|
Abstract
Over more than two decades, studies using imaging techniques of the living human brain have begun to explore the neural correlates of hypnosis. The collective findings provide a gripping, albeit preliminary, account of the underlying neurobiological mechanisms involved in hypnotic phenomena. While substantial advances lend support to different hypotheses pertaining to hypnotic modulation of attention, control, and monitoring processes, the complex interactions among the many mediating variables largely hinder our ability to isolate robust commonalities across studies. The present account presents a critical integrative synthesis of neuroimaging studies targeting hypnosis as a function of suggestion. Specifically, hypnotic induction without task-specific suggestion is examined, as well as suggestions concerning sensation and perception, memory, and ideomotor response. The importance of carefully designed experiments is highlighted to better tease apart the neural correlates that subserve hypnotic phenomena. Moreover, converging findings intimate that hypnotic suggestions seem to induce specific neural patterns. These observations propose that suggestions may have the ability to target focal brain networks. Drawing on evidence spanning several technological modalities, neuroimaging studies of hypnosis pave the road to a more scientific understanding of a dramatic, yet largely evasive, domain of human behavior.
Collapse
|
19
|
Functional neurological disorders: imaging. Neurophysiol Clin 2014; 44:339-42. [PMID: 25306074 DOI: 10.1016/j.neucli.2014.07.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2014] [Accepted: 07/27/2014] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Functional neurological disorders, also known as conversion disorder, are unexplained neurological symptoms. These symptoms are common and can be associated with significant consequences. This review covers the neuroimaging literature focusing on functional motor symptoms including motor functioning and upstream influences including self-monitoring and internal representations, voluntariness and arousal and trauma.
Collapse
|
20
|
Landry M, Appourchaux K, Raz A. Elucidating unconscious processing with instrumental hypnosis. Front Psychol 2014; 5:785. [PMID: 25120504 PMCID: PMC4112913 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00785] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2014] [Accepted: 07/03/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Most researchers leverage bottom-up suppression to unlock the underlying mechanisms of unconscious processing. However, a top-down approach - for example via hypnotic suggestion - paves the road to experimental innovation and complementary data that afford new scientific insights concerning attention and the unconscious. Drawing from a reliable taxonomy that differentiates subliminal and preconscious processing, we outline how an experimental trajectory that champions top-down suppression techniques, such as those practiced in hypnosis, is uniquely poised to further contextualize and refine our scientific understanding of unconscious processing. Examining subliminal and preconscious methods, we demonstrate how instrumental hypnosis provides a reliable adjunct that supplements contemporary approaches. Specifically, we provide an integrative synthesis of the advantages and shortcomings that accompany a top-down approach to probe the unconscious mind. Our account provides a larger framework for complementing the results from core studies involving prevailing subliminal and preconscious techniques.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mathieu Landry
- Integrated Program in Neuroscience, McGill University Montreal, QC, Canada
| | | | - Amir Raz
- Department of Psychiatry, McGill University Montreal, QC, Canada ; Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Jewish General Hospital Montreal, QC, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Walsh E, Mehta M, Oakley D, Guilmette D, Gabay A, Halligan P, Deeley Q. Using suggestion to model different types of automatic writing. Conscious Cogn 2014; 26:24-36. [DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2014.02.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2013] [Revised: 02/14/2014] [Accepted: 02/24/2014] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
|
22
|
Abstract
This article considers the relationship between various types of dissociative symptoms, including symptoms of depersonalization, derealization, and conversion disorders, and epilepsy. After introductory remarks concerning dissociation, this relationship is discussed through two main themes: firstly, the phenomenology and mechanisms of so-called 'dreamy states' in epilepsy and their closest analogs in psychiatric disorders, and secondly, the similarities and differences between epileptic seizures and psychogenic nonepileptic attacks. Although epileptic and dissociative symptoms may appear similar to observers, they arise through different mechanisms and have different experiential qualities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nick Medford
- Dept. of Psychiatry, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Falmer Campus, Brighton BN1 9RR, East Sussex, UK; Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Falmer Campus, Brighton BN1 9RR, East Sussex, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Rofé Y, Rofé Y. Conversion Disorder: A Review Through the Prism of the Rational-Choice Theory of Neurosis. EUROPES JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2013. [DOI: 10.5964/ejop.v9i4.621] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
|
24
|
Vanhaudenhuyse A, Laureys S, Faymonville ME. Neurophysiology of hypnosis. Neurophysiol Clin 2013; 44:343-53. [PMID: 25306075 DOI: 10.1016/j.neucli.2013.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2013] [Revised: 09/03/2013] [Accepted: 09/29/2013] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
We here review behavioral, neuroimaging and electrophysiological studies of hypnosis as a state, as well as hypnosis as a tool to modulate brain responses to painful stimulations. Studies have shown that hypnotic processes modify internal (self awareness) as well as external (environmental awareness) brain networks. Brain mechanisms underlying the modulation of pain perception under hypnotic conditions involve cortical as well as subcortical areas including anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortices, basal ganglia and thalami. Combined with local anesthesia and conscious sedation in patients undergoing surgery, hypnosis is associated with improved peri- and postoperative comfort of patients and surgeons. Finally, hypnosis can be considered as a useful analogue for simulating conversion and dissociation symptoms in healthy subjects, permitting better characterization of these challenging disorders by producing clinically similar experiences.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A Vanhaudenhuyse
- Coma Science Group, Cyclotron Research Centre, University of Liège, Sart Tilman B30, Allée du 6 Août n(o) 8, 4000 Liège, Belgium.
| | - S Laureys
- Coma Science Group, Cyclotron Research Centre, University of Liège, Sart Tilman B30, Allée du 6 Août n(o) 8, 4000 Liège, Belgium.
| | - M-E Faymonville
- Department of Algology, University Hospital of Liège, Sart Tilman B35, 4000 Liège, Belgium.
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Using hypnotic suggestion to model loss of control and awareness of movements: an exploratory FMRI study. PLoS One 2013; 8:e78324. [PMID: 24205198 PMCID: PMC3804629 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0078324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2012] [Accepted: 09/13/2013] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The feeling of voluntary control and awareness of movement is fundamental to our notions of selfhood and responsibility for actions, yet can be lost in neuropsychiatric syndromes (e.g. delusions of control, non-epileptic seizures) and culturally influenced dissociative states (e.g. attributions of spirit possession). The brain processes involved remain poorly understood. We used suggestion and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate loss of control and awareness of right hand movements in 15 highly hypnotically suggestible subjects. Loss of perceived control of movements was associated with reduced connectivity between supplementary motor area (SMA) and motor regions. Reduced awareness of involuntary movements was associated with less activation in parietal cortices (BA 7, BA 40) and insula. Collectively these results suggest that the sense of voluntary control of movement may critically depend on the functional coupling of SMA with motor systems, and provide a potential neural basis for the narrowing of awareness reported in pathological and culturally influenced dissociative phenomena.
Collapse
|
26
|
|
27
|
Halligan PW, Oakley DA. Hypnosis and cognitive neuroscience: Bridging the gap. Cortex 2013; 49:359-64. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2012.12.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2012] [Revised: 12/04/2012] [Accepted: 12/04/2012] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
|