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Malloggi E, Santarcangelo EL. Physiological Correlates of Hypnotizability: Hypnotic Behaviour and Prognostic Role in Medicine. Brain Sci 2023; 13:1632. [PMID: 38137080 PMCID: PMC10742099 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13121632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2023] [Revised: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 11/23/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Studies in the field of experimental hypnosis highlighted the role of hypnotizability in the physiological variability of the general population. It is associated, in fact, with a few differences which are observable in the ordinary state of consciousness and in the absence of suggestions. The aim of the present scoping review is summarizing them and indicate their relevance to the neural mechanisms of hypnosis and to the prognosis and treatment of a few medical conditions. Individuals with high, medium and low hypnotizability scores display different cerebral functional differences-i.e., functional equivalence between imagery and perception/action, excitability of the motor cortex, interoceptive accuracy-possibly related to brain structural and functional characteristics, and different control of blood supply at peripheral and cerebral level, likely due to different availability of endothelial nitric oxide. These differences are reviewed to support the idea of their participation in hypnotic behaviour and to indicate their prognostic and therapeutic usefulness in a few medical conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleonora Malloggi
- Department Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, 56127 Pisa, Italy;
- Department of Physics, University of Trento, 38122 Trento, Italy
| | - Enrica L. Santarcangelo
- Department Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, 56127 Pisa, Italy;
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Abstract
Hypnotizability is a dispositional trait reflecting the individual ability to modify perception, memory and behavior according to imaginative suggestions. It is measured by validated scales that classify the general population in high (highs), medium (mediums) and low (lows) hypnotizable persons, predicts the individual proneness to respond to suggestions, and is particularly popular in the field of the cognitive control of pain and anxiety. Different hypnotizability levels, however, have been associated with specific brain morpho-functional characteristics and with peculiarities in the cognitive, sensorimotor and cardiovascular domains also in the ordinary state of consciousness and in the absence of specific suggestions. The present scoping review was undertaken to summarize the asymmetries observed in the phenomenology and physiological correlates of hypnosis and hypnotizability as possible indices of related hemispheric prevalence. It presents the findings of 137 papers published between 1974 and 2019. In summary, in the ordinary state of consciousness, behavioral, neurophysiological and neuroimaging investigations have revealed hypnotizability related asymmetries mainly consisting of pre-eminent left hemisphere information processing/activation in highs, and no asymmetries or opposite directions of them in lows. The described asymmetries are discussed in relation to the current theories of hypnotizability and hypnosis.
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Ibáñez-Marcelo E, Campioni L, Phinyomark A, Petri G, Santarcangelo EL. Topology highlights mesoscopic functional equivalence between imagery and perception: The case of hypnotizability. Neuroimage 2019; 200:437-449. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.06.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2018] [Revised: 05/15/2019] [Accepted: 06/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
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Menzocchi M, Mecacci G, Zeppi A, Carli G, Santarcangelo EL. Hypnotizability and Performance on a Prism Adaptation Test. THE CEREBELLUM 2016; 14:699-706. [PMID: 25913127 DOI: 10.1007/s12311-015-0671-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
The susceptibility to hypnosis, which can be measured by scales, is not merely a cognitive trait. In fact, it is associated with a number of physiological correlates in the ordinary state of consciousness and in the absence of suggestions. The hypnotizability-related differences observed in sensorimotor integration suggested a major role of the cerebellum in the peculiar performance of healthy subjects with high scores of hypnotic susceptibility (highs). In order to provide behavioral evidence of this hypothesis, we submitted 20 highs and 21 low hypnotizable participants (lows) to the classical cerebellar Prism Adaptation Test (PAT). We found that the highs' performance was significantly less accurate and more variable than the lows' one, even though the two groups shared the same characteristics of adaptation to prismatic lenses. Although further studies are required to interpret these findings, they could account for earlier reports of hypnotizability-related differences in postural control and blink rate, as they indicate that hypnotizability influences the cerebellar control of sensorimotor integration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Menzocchi
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Neuroscience, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Giulio Mecacci
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Neuroscience, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Andrea Zeppi
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Neuroscience, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Giancarlo Carli
- Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Neuroscience, University of Siena, Siena, Italy
| | - Enrica L Santarcangelo
- Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Via San Zeno 31, 56127, Pisa, Italy.
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Case LK, Pineda J, Ramachandran VS. Common coding and dynamic interactions between observed, imagined, and experienced motor and somatosensory activity. Neuropsychologia 2015; 79:233-45. [PMID: 25863237 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.04.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2014] [Revised: 03/01/2015] [Accepted: 04/03/2015] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Motor imagery and perception - considered generally as forms of motor simulation - share overlapping neural representations with motor production. While much research has focused on the extent of this "common coding," less attention has been paid to how these overlapping representations interact. How do imagined, observed, or produced actions influence one another, and how do we maintain control over our perception and behavior? In the first part of this review we describe interactions between motor production and motor simulation, and explore apparent regulatory mechanisms that balance these processes. Next, we consider the somatosensory system. Numerous studies now support a "sensory mirror system" comprised of neural representations activated by either afferent sensation or vicarious sensation. In the second part of this review we summarize evidence for shared representations of sensation and sensory simulation (including imagery and observed sensation), and suggest that similar interactions and regulation of simulation occur in the somatosensory domain as in the motor domain. We suggest that both motor and somatosensory simulations are flexibly regulated to support simulations congruent with our sensorimotor experience and goals and suppress or separate the influence of those that are not. These regulatory mechanisms are frequently revealed by cases of brain injury but can also be employed to facilitate sensorimotor rehabilitation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura K Case
- Center for Brain and Cognition, University of California, San Diego, USA; Pain and Integrative Neuroscience Branch, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
| | - Jaime Pineda
- Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, USA
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Asai T, Sugimori E, Tanno Y. The body knows what it should do: automatic motor compensation for illusory heaviness contagion. Front Psychol 2012; 3:244. [PMID: 22811674 PMCID: PMC3396347 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2012] [Accepted: 06/24/2012] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
We can share various feelings with others just through observation, as if it were an automatic resonance. This connective function between the self and others could promote the facilitation of our social communication; however, it is still unclear as to how it works in terms of self-other representation. In this study, we showed participants a picture of a model holding a ball, which was weighted with sand. We instructed participants to move one of their arms to a horizontal position and hold it immobile. Those participants who knew the actual weight of the ball (1 kg) tended to raise this arm above the horizontal, in response to their expectation of the need to resist the weight of the ball. This compensatory reaction to the illusion of heaviness suggests that our bodily resonance could be mandatory and predictive. We discuss this new behavioral phenomenon in terms of motor simulation or the mirror-neuron system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomohisa Asai
- Department of Cognitive and Behavioral Science, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo Tokyo, Japan
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Cardeña E, Lehmann D, Faber PL, Jönsson P, Milz P, Pascual-Marqui RD, Kochi K. EEG sLORETA functional imaging during hypnotic arm levitation and voluntary arm lifting. Int J Clin Exp Hypn 2012; 60:31-53. [PMID: 22098568 DOI: 10.1080/00207144.2011.622184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
Abstract
This study (N = 37 with high, medium, and low hypnotizables) evaluated depth reports and EEG activity during both voluntary and hypnotically induced left-arm lifting with sLORETA functional neuroimaging. The hypnotic condition was associated with higher activity in fast EEG frequencies in anterior regions and slow EEG frequencies in central-parietal regions, all left-sided. The voluntary condition was associated with fast frequency activity in right-hemisphere central-parietal regions and slow frequency activity in left anterior regions. Hypnotizability did not have a significant effect on EEG activity, but hypnotic depth correlated with left hemisphere increased anterior slow EEG and decreased central fast EEG activity. Hypnosis had a minimal effect on depth reports among lows, a moderate one among mediums, and a large one among highs. Because only left-arm data were available, the full role of the hemispheres remains to be clarified.
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Affiliation(s)
- Etzel Cardeña
- Department of Psychology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
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Santarcangelo EL, Scattina E, Carli G, Ghelarducci B, Orsini P, Manzoni D. Can imagery become reality? Exp Brain Res 2010; 206:329-35. [PMID: 20848275 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-010-2412-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2010] [Accepted: 09/02/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
Abstract
Previous studies showed that highly hypnotizable persons imagining a specific sensory context behave according to the corresponding real stimulation and perceive their behaviour as involuntary. The aim of the study was to confirm the hypothesis of a translation of sensory imagery into real perception and, thus, of a true involuntary response. We studied the imagery-induced modulation of the vestibulospinal (VS) reflex earlier component in highly (Highs) and low hypnotizable subjects (Lows), as it is not affected by voluntary control, its amplitude depends on the stimulus intensity, and the plane of body sway depends on the position of the head with respect to the trunk. Results showed that the effects of the "obstructive" imagery of anaesthesia are different from those elicited by the "constructive" imagery of head rotation. Indeed, both Highs and Lows having their face forward and reporting high vividness of imagery experienced anaesthesia and reduced their VS reflex amplitude in the frontal plane, while only Highs changed the plane of body sway according to the imagined head rotation that is from the frontal to the sagittal one. These effects cannot be voluntary and should be attributed to translation of sensory imagery into the corresponding real perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- E L Santarcangelo
- Department of Physiological Sciences, University of Pisa, Via San Zeno 31, Pisa, Italy.
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Carli G, Manzoni D, Santarcangelo EL. Hypnotizability-related integration of perception and action. Cogn Neuropsychol 2009; 25:1065-76. [PMID: 18608323 DOI: 10.1080/02643290801913712] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Hypnotizability is a cognitive trait able to modulate many behavioural/physiological processes and associated with peculiar functional characteristics of the frontal executive system. This review summarizes experimental results on hypnotizability-related differences in sensorimotor integration at a reflex and an integrated level (postural control) and suggests possible interpretations based on morpho-functional considerations. In particular, hypnotizability-related differences in spinal motoneurones excitability are described, and the role of attention and imagery in maintaining a stable upright stance when sensory information is reduced or altered and when attention is absorbed in cognitive tasks is discussed as a function of hypnotic susceptibility. The projections from prefrontal cortex to spinal motoneurones and the balance between the activation of the right and left cortical hemisphere are considered responsible for the hypnotizability-related modulation of reflex responses, while the differences in postural control between subjects with high (highs) and low (lows) hypnotic susceptibility are considered a possible consequence of the activity of the locus coeruleus, which is also involved in attention, and of the cerebellum, which might be responsible for different internal models of postural control. We suggest a highly pervasive role of hypnotic susceptibility in human behaviour through the modulation of the integration of perception and action, which could be relevant for neurorehabilitative treatments and for the adaptation to special environments.
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Santarcangelo EL, Scattina E, Orsini P, Bruschini L, Ghelarducci B, Manzoni D. Effects of vestibular and neck proprioceptive stimulation on posture as a function of hypnotizability. Int J Clin Exp Hypn 2008; 56:170-84. [PMID: 18307127 DOI: 10.1080/00207140701849510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Previous studies on the role of hypnotizability in postural control indicate that the body sway of subjects with high or low hypnotizability to hypnosis is differentially modulated by eye closure. The aim of this study was to investigate whether hypnotizability also modulates the postural response to electrical vestibular stimulation and to head rotation in nonhypnotized individuals. The center of pressure (CoP) displacements were monitored in highs and lows standing on a stabilometric platform with closed eyes during basal conditions and electrical vestibular stimulation in 3 different positions of the head. Results showed that the CoP stimulus-locked displacements as well as the CoP mean position, area, and mean velocity were similar in highs and lows, but only in lows did the head position modulate the mean velocity. This finding might reflect a difference in sensory-motor integration between the 2 groups.
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Hypnotizability-dependent modulation of the changes in heart rate control induced by upright stance. Brain Res Bull 2008; 75:692-7. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2007.11.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2007] [Revised: 08/22/2007] [Accepted: 11/21/2007] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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