Researchers at Stanford University say they have made a discovery common in science fiction. In a controlled randomized trial published this week, they found evidence that people are more susceptible to the effects of hypnosis after just two brief bursts of non-invasive brain stimulation. The findings suggest that brain stimulation could make hypnosis a more effective way to treat a variety of health conditions, including chronic pain, although more extensive research is needed to know for sure.
Although hypnosis is often described as a supernatural persuasion technique or a cheap parlor trick, the practice has a long history in medicine, especially psychotherapy.it is on purpose Helping people achieve a more focused and relaxed state of consciousness in which they are more able to adopt suggestions for changing certain behaviors or thought patterns. Hypnosis has been used to help people manage a variety of mental and physical conditions, although evidence of its effectiveness for some health problems is weaker (e.g., quit smoking) compared to others (irritable bowel syndrome).
One reason why observed success rates with hypnosis can vary so widely is that only some people actually respond well to it. Research over the years has found that people’s susceptibility to hypnosis ranges across a range and remains fairly stable throughout adulthood, much like personality traits. But the study’s lead author, Afik Faerman, a postdoctoral scholar in psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine, and his colleagues wondered whether this trait was really so immutable.
“The ability to experience hypnotic suggestion (hypnotizability) follows a bell-curve distribution across the population, with only about 20 percent of people considered highly hypnotic,” Faerman told Gizmodo in an email. “We wanted to test whether we could get the brains of people who are less susceptible to hypnosis to behave like them, in the hope that this possibility would open the door to improved treatments.”
Based on some of the authors’ past research, they decided to focus on two brain regions associated with high hypnotizability: the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which helps us make decisions, and the anterior cingulate cortex, which is involved in our perception of stimuli. In more susceptible people, there appears to be greater functional connectivity, or communication, between these areas. The team used transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) technology, which non-invasively sends electrical pulses to the brain through the scalp, to try to amplify this connection in test subjects, and hopefully improve their hypnotic abilities as a result.
The trial involved 80 patients with fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition revealed by hypnosis some promises During the process of aiding in remission, he did not seem to be easily hypnotized. All volunteers underwent brain scans to find the best customized targets for TMS. They were then randomly divided into two groups, with one group receiving two 46-second pulses of TMS and the other group receiving a sham treatment (the same procedure was performed, but no actual stimulation occurred). Before and after these sessions, volunteers were tested on their hypnotic ability from one to ten.
Overall, the treatment group’s hypnotizability improved significantly on average, with scores improving approximately 1 point afterward, while the placebo group showed no significant change. However, this change is temporary. After an hour, the differences between the groups gradually disappeared.
The team’s research results, publish The article published Thursday in the journal Nature Mental Health is just a proof-of-concept for their approach, which they created SHIFT (Stanford Hypnosis Combined with Functionally Connected Targeted Transcranial Stimulation).
“This study was designed to answer a mechanistic question – ‘Can this be done?’. Therefore, we used a very short stimulation protocol. For reference, the minimum FDA-approved duration of TMS for depression is 50 sessions over 5 consecutive days.” Stimulation, about 10 minutes each time (about 500 minutes total),” Faerman said. Now that they’ve proven that people’s hypnotic tendencies can be changed, there’s still a lot of work to be done.
The team is already developing a modified protocol that they hope will produce enough of a change in people’s ability to hypnotize that they will affect their response to conditions such as fibromyalgia. If this research continues to be confirmed, Fehrman believes hypnosis has broad potential as a medical treatment.
“As a clinical psychologist, my vision is that in the near future, patients will receive brief stimulation treatments before their treatment appointments to increase the effectiveness of their treatments,” he said. “This will enable us to deliver effective, drug-free treatments and improve patient well-being in the first place, while also saving time and money for patients and our healthcare system.”
