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Zahedi A, Jay Lynn S, Sommer W. How hypnotic suggestions work - A systematic review of prominent theories of hypnosis. Conscious Cogn 2024; 123:103730. [PMID: 39032268 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2024.103730] [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: 05/25/2023] [Revised: 07/10/2024] [Accepted: 07/13/2024] [Indexed: 07/23/2024]
Abstract
In recent decades, hypnosis has increasingly moved into the mainstream of scientific inquiry. Hypnotic suggestions are frequently implemented in behavioral, neurocognitive, and clinical investigations and interventions. Despite abundant reports about the effectiveness of suggestions in altering behavior, perception, cognition, and agency, no consensus exists regarding the mechanisms driving these changes. This article reviews competing theoretical accounts that address the genesis of subjective, behavioral, and neurophysiological responses to hypnotic suggestions. We systematically analyze the broad landscape of hypnosis theories that best represent our estimation of the current status and future avenues of scientific thinking. We start with procedural descriptions of hypnosis, suggestions, and hypnotizability, followed by a comparative analysis of systematically selected theories. Considering that prominent theoretical perspectives emphasize different aspects of hypnosis, our review reveals that each perspective possesses salient strengths, limitations, and heuristic values. We highlight the necessity of revisiting extant theories and formulating novel evidence-based accounts of hypnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anoushiravan Zahedi
- Department of Psychology, University of Muenster, Germany; Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin, Germany; Neuroscience Research Center, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany.
| | - Steven Jay Lynn
- Psychology Department, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY, USA
| | - Werner Sommer
- Department of Psychology, Humboldt-Universitat zu Berlin, Germany; Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jin Hua, China
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Geagea D, Ogez D, Kimble R, Tyack Z. Redefining hypnosis: A narrative review of theories to move towards an integrative model. Complement Ther Clin Pract 2024; 54:101826. [PMID: 38199053 DOI: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2023.101826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2023] [Revised: 12/14/2023] [Accepted: 12/29/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
Hypnosis is an ancient mind-body intervention that has regained interest with the surge of research in the last decade documenting its clinical validity. Yet, theoretical controversies and misconceptions prevail among theorists, clinicians, and the general public, impeding the understanding, acceptance, replication, and use of hypnosis. Providing adequate information, which dispels misconceptions and promotes more balanced views, is warranted to facilitate the implementation and adoption of hypnosis in clinical and research settings. This review re-examines the conceptualisation of hypnosis throughout history and the theoretical controversies surrounding it while highlighting their meeting points and clinical implications. Despite dichotomies, a broad agreement appears across theoretical approaches regarding hypnotic analgesia effects, key components, and vocabulary. Further, theories highlight key factors of hypnotic responding. For instance, social theories highlight social and contextual variables, whereas state theories highlight biopsychosocial mechanisms and individual factors. Based on theories, the terms hypnotherapy or clinical hypnosis are recommended to refer to the therapeutic use of hypnosis in psychotherapeutic and medical contexts, respectively. This review concludes with a model that integrates various theories and evidence and presents hypnosis as a complex multifaceted intervention encompassing multiple procedures, phenomena, and influencing factors. This review intends to deepen our understanding of hypnosis, and promote its more rapid adoption and adequate implementation in research and clinical contexts, in addition to steering research towards evidence-based hypnotic practice. The review can have important research and clinical implications by contributing to advancing knowledge regarding hypnotic procedures, phenomena, and influencing factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dali Geagea
- Child Health Research Centre, Centre for Children's Burns and Trauma Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
| | - David Ogez
- Department of Anaesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada
| | - Roy Kimble
- Centre for Children's Burns and Trauma Research, Queensland Children's Hospital, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Zephanie Tyack
- Child Health Research Centre, Centre for Children's Burns and Trauma Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia; Australian Centre for Health Service Innovation and Centre for Healthcare Transformation, School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
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3
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De Pascalis V. Brain Functional Correlates of Resting Hypnosis and Hypnotizability: A Review. Brain Sci 2024; 14:115. [PMID: 38391691 PMCID: PMC10886478 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14020115] [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: 12/04/2023] [Revised: 01/12/2024] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024] Open
Abstract
This comprehensive review delves into the cognitive neuroscience of hypnosis and variations in hypnotizability by examining research employing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and electroencephalography (EEG) methods. Key focus areas include functional brain imaging correlations in hypnosis, EEG band oscillations as indicators of hypnotic states, alterations in EEG functional connectivity during hypnosis and wakefulness, drawing critical conclusions, and suggesting future research directions. The reviewed functional connectivity findings support the notion that disruptions in the available integration between different components of the executive control network during hypnosis may correspond to altered subjective appraisals of the agency during the hypnotic response, as per dissociated and cold control theories of hypnosis. A promising exploration avenue involves investigating how frontal lobes' neurochemical and aperiodic components of the EEG activity at waking-rest are linked to individual differences in hypnotizability. Future studies investigating the effects of hypnosis on brain function should prioritize examining distinctive activation patterns across various neural networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vilfredo De Pascalis
- Department of Psychology, La Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy
- School of Psychology, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia
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Brunel J, Delord S, Mathey S. Hypnotic suggestion modulates visual recognition of negative words depending on word arousal. Conscious Cogn 2023; 115:103569. [PMID: 37660419 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2023.103569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2023] [Revised: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 08/25/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023]
Abstract
This study examined whether and how emotional hypnotic suggestions modulate the visual recognition of negative words. We investigated the influence of hypnotic suggestions aimed at modifying emotional reactivity on the arousal effect in negative words. High and low suggestible individuals performed a go/no-go lexical decision task in three intra-individual conditions: with a suggestion to increase emotional reactivity, with a suggestion to decrease emotional reactivity and without hypnotic suggestion. Results showed that hypnotic suggestions modulated the arousal facilitation effect differently depending on the level of suggestibility of the participants. In high suggestible individuals, response times for low-arousal negative words varied oppositely according to the suggestion administered, while no modulations were retrieved for high-arousal ones. In contrast, no suggestion effects were found for low suggestible participants. Altogether, these findings suggest a higher influence of hypnotic suggestions on emotional words that require longer processing times in high suggestible individuals.
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Triggiani AI, Kreiman G, Lewis C, Maoz U, Mele A, Mudrik L, Roskies AL, Schurger A, Hallett M. What is the intention to move and when does it occur? Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2023; 151:105199. [PMID: 37119992 PMCID: PMC10330627 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2023.105199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2022] [Revised: 04/04/2023] [Accepted: 04/24/2023] [Indexed: 05/01/2023]
Abstract
In 1983 Benjamin Libet and colleagues published a paper apparently challenging the view that the conscious intention to move precedes the brain's preparation for movement. The experiment initiated debates about the nature of intention, the neurophysiology of movement, and philosophical and legal understanding of free will and moral responsibility. Here we review the concept of "conscious intention" and attempts to measure its timing. Scalp electroencephalographic activity prior to movement, the Bereitschaftspotential, clearly begins prior to the reported onset of conscious intent. However, the interpretation of this finding remains controversial. Numerous studies show that the Libet method for determining intent, W time, is not accurate and may be misleading. We conclude that intention has many different aspects, and although we now understand much more about how the brain makes movements, identifying the time of conscious intention is still elusive.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio I Triggiani
- Human Motor Control Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Gabriel Kreiman
- Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, Center for Brains, Minds, and Machines, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Cara Lewis
- Human Motor Control Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Uri Maoz
- Department of Psychology, Chapman University, Orange, CA 92866, USA; Institute for Interdisciplinary Brain and Behavioral Sciences, Chapman University, Irvine, CA 92618, USA; Anderson School of Management, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - Alfred Mele
- Department of Philosophy, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
| | - Liad Mudrik
- School of Psychological Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Adina L Roskies
- Department of Philosophy, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
| | - Aaron Schurger
- Institute for Interdisciplinary Brain and Behavioral Sciences, Chapman University, Irvine, CA 92618, USA; INSERM U992, Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit, Neurospin Center, Gif-sur-Yvette 91191, France; Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique, Direction des Sciences du Vivant, NeuroSpin Center, I2BM, Gif sur Yvette 91191, France
| | - Mark Hallett
- Human Motor Control Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
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Geagea D, Ogez D, Kimble R, Tyack Z. Demystifying hypnosis: Unravelling facts, exploring the historical roots of myths, and discerning what is hypnosis. Complement Ther Clin Pract 2023; 52:101776. [PMID: 37402329 DOI: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2023.101776] [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: 04/27/2023] [Revised: 06/04/2023] [Accepted: 06/14/2023] [Indexed: 07/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Hypnosis, a mind-body treatment dating back to early human history, has regained attention in the last decade, with research suggesting its effectiveness for varied physiological and psychological ailments such as distress, pain, and psychosomatic disorders. However, myths and misconceptions have prevailed among the general public and clinicians, hindering the adoption and acceptance of hypnosis. It is important to distinguish myths from facts and discern what is hypnosis and what is not to enhance the understanding, acceptance, and adoption of hypnotic interventions. METHODS This narrative review traces the history of myths surrounding hypnosis in contrast to the evolution of hypnosis as a treatment modality. In addition to comparing hypnosis to other interventions with similar procedures and features, the review unravels misconceptions that have impeded the adoption and acceptance of hypnosis in clinical and research settings and presents evidence to demystify this intervention. RESULTS This review examines the roots of myths while presenting historical facts and evidence that support hypnosis as a treatment modality and alleviate misconceptions depicting it as mystical. Further, the review distinguishes hypnotic and non-hypnotic interventions with overlapping procedures and phenomenological features to enhance our understanding of hypnotic techniques and phenomena. CONCLUSION This review enhances the understanding of hypnosis in historical, clinical, and research contexts by disproving related myths and misconceptions to promote the adoption of hypnosis in clinical and research contexts. Further, this review highlights knowledge gaps requiring further investigations to steer research toward an evidence-based practice of hypnosis and optimise multimodal therapies embedding hypnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dali Geagea
- Child Health Research Centre, Centre for Children's Burns and Trauma Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
| | - David Ogez
- Department of Anaesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada
| | - Roy Kimble
- Centre for Children's Burns and Trauma Research, Queensland Children's Hospital, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Zephanie Tyack
- Child Health Research Centre, Centre for Children's Burns and Trauma Research, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia; Australian Centre for Health Service Innovation and Centre for Healthcare Transformation, School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
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Smith DM, Terhune DB. Pedunculopontine-induced cortical decoupling as the neurophysiological locus of dissociation. Psychol Rev 2023; 130:183-210. [PMID: 35084921 PMCID: PMC10511303 DOI: 10.1037/rev0000353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Mounting evidence suggests an association between aberrant sleep phenomena and dissociative experiences. However, no wake-sleep boundary theory provides a compelling explanation of dissociation or specifies its physiological substrates. We present a theoretical account of dissociation that integrates theories and empirical results from multiple lines of research concerning the domain of dissociation and the regulation of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. This theory posits that individual differences in the circuitry governing the REM sleep promoting Pedunculopontine Nucleus and Laterodorsal Tegmental Nucleus determine the degree of similarity in the cortical connectivity profiles of wakefulness and REM sleep. We propose that a latent trait characterized by elevated dissociative experiences emerges from the decoupling of frontal executive regions due to a REM sleep-like aminergic/cholinergic balance. The Pedunculopontine-Induced Cortical Decoupling Account of Dissociation (PICDAD) suggests multiple fruitful lines of inquiry and provides novel insights. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).
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Affiliation(s)
- Derek M. Smith
- Department of Psychology, Northwestern University
- Department of Neurology, Division of Cognitive Neurology/Neuropsychology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
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Lynn SJ, Green JP, Zahedi A, Apelian C. The response set theory of hypnosis reconsidered: toward an integrative model. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CLINICAL HYPNOSIS 2023; 65:186-210. [PMID: 36108171 DOI: 10.1080/00029157.2022.2117680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Irving Kirsch is a leading figure in the field of psychological science who has advanced our understanding of hypnosis in key respects that have withstood the tests of time and replication. We honor his prodigious contributions over his distinguished career and extend his response expectancy theory in an integrative model that encompasses predictive coding. We review the construct of expectancies that he articulated and championed for decades and extended in response set theory. We propose novel hypotheses to align his innovative contributions with the most current findings in psychological science and to acknowledge the heuristic value of his work. We especially focus on (I) how the response set theory can be conceptualized in terms of the predictive coding model and (II) psycho-social constructs that need to be considered to better understand the effects of expectancies on hypnotic phenomena in an open and evidence-based integrative model of hypnosis.
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Acunzo DJ, Terhune DB, Sharma A, Hickey CM. Absorption and dissociation mediate the relationship between direct verbal suggestibility and impulsivity/compulsivity. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2022; 231:103793. [PMID: 36402087 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103793] [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: 05/23/2022] [Revised: 10/28/2022] [Accepted: 11/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Direct verbal suggestibility refers to the capacity for an individual to experience perceptual, motor, affective and cognitive changes in response to verbal suggestions. Suggestibility is characterized by pronounced, yet reliable, inter-individual differences. Previous research and theoretical considerations suggest that greater impulsivity and compulsivity is associated to higher suggestibility, but the characteristics and mediating factors of this association are poorly understood. Using established psychometric measures in an online sample, we found positive correlations between the domain comprising impulsivity, compulsivity and behavioural activation, and the domain of suggestibility, dissociation and absorption. We also observed that dissociation and absorption mediated the link between suggestibility and impulsivity, and between suggestibility and behavioural activation, respectively. These results confirm the positive link between suggestibility and the impulsivity/compulsivity domain and shed new light on the characterisation of traits associated with suggestibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J Acunzo
- Centre for Human Brain Health, Department of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom.
| | - Devin B Terhune
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, New Cross, London SE14 6NW, United Kingdom; Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom
| | - Ankita Sharma
- Human Neuroscience intercalated programme, Birmingham Medical School, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom
| | - Clayton M Hickey
- Centre for Human Brain Health, Department of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom
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Millman LSM, Hunter ECM, David AS, Orgs G, Terhune DB. Assessing responsiveness to direct verbal suggestions in depersonalization-derealization disorder. Psychiatry Res 2022; 315:114730. [PMID: 35870293 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114730] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2022] [Revised: 07/03/2022] [Accepted: 07/16/2022] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
The dissociative disorders and germane conditions are reliably characterized by elevated responsiveness to direct verbal suggestions. However, it remains unclear whether atypical responsiveness to suggestion is similarly present in depersonalization-derealization disorder (DDD). 55 DDD patients and 36 healthy controls completed a standardised behavioural measure of direct verbal suggestibility that includes a correction for compliant responding (BSS-C), and psychometric measures of depersonalization-derealization (CDS), mindfulness (FFMQ), imagery vividness (VVIQ), and anxiety (GAD-7). Relative to controls, patients did not exhibit elevated suggestibility (g = 0.26, BF10 = .11) but displayed significantly lower mindfulness (g = 1.38), and imagery vividness (g = 0.63), and significantly greater anxiety (g = 1.39). Although suggestibility did not correlate with severity of depersonalization-derealization symptoms in controls, r = -.03 [95% CI: -.36, .30], there was a weak tendency for a positive association in patients, r = .25, [95% CI: -.03, .48]. Exploratory analyses revealed that patients with more severe anomalous bodily experiences were also more responsive to suggestion, an effect not seen in controls. This study demonstrates that DDD is not characterized by elevated responsiveness to direct verbal suggestions. These results have implications for the aetiology and treatment of this condition, as well as its classification as a dissociative disorder in psychiatric nosology.
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Affiliation(s)
- L S Merritt Millman
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, 8 Lewisham Way, New Cross, London SE14 6NW, United Kingdom.
| | - Elaine C M Hunter
- Institute of Mental Health, University College London, Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Rd, Fitzrovia, London W1T 7BN, United Kingdom
| | - Anthony S David
- Institute of Mental Health, University College London, Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Rd, Fitzrovia, London W1T 7BN, United Kingdom
| | - Guido Orgs
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, 8 Lewisham Way, New Cross, London SE14 6NW, United Kingdom
| | - Devin B Terhune
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, 8 Lewisham Way, New Cross, London SE14 6NW, United Kingdom; Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AB, United Kingdom
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Penazzi G, De Pisapia N. Direct comparisons between hypnosis and meditation: A mini-review. Front Psychol 2022; 13:958185. [PMID: 35911038 PMCID: PMC9335001 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.958185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Hypnosis and meditation share phenomenological and neurophysiological features, and their comparison is a topic of growing interest in the scientific literature. In this article, we review a classification of these two kinds of non-ordinary states of consciousness, and discuss the studies that directly compare them. Some findings seem to suggest that hypnosis and meditation are distinct phenomena, while others underline their similarities, but experiments that directly contrast them are still scarce and no consensus has been reached yet. While this comparison could give us fundamental insights into central issues concerning the role of attention, metacognition and executive control in the study of consciousness, it is clear that we are still at the early stages of this research.
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Wieder L, Brown RJ, Thompson T, Terhune DB. Hypnotic suggestibility in dissociative and related disorders: A meta-analysis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 139:104751. [PMID: 35760389 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104751] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2022] [Revised: 06/04/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Elevated responsiveness to verbal suggestions is hypothesized to represent a predisposing factor for dissociative disorders (DDs) and related conditions. However, the magnitude of this effect has not been estimated in these populations nor has the potential moderating influence of methodological limitations on effect size variability across studies. This study assessed whether patients with DDs, trauma- and stressor-related disorders (TSDs), and functional neurological disorder (FND) display elevated hypnotic suggestibility. A systematic literature search identified 20 datasets. A random-effects meta-analysis revealed that patients displayed greater hypnotic suggestibility than controls, Hedges's g=0.92 [0.66, 1.18]. This effect was observed in all subgroups but was most pronounced in the DDs. Although there was some evidence for publication bias, a bias-corrected estimate of the group effect remained significant, g=0.57 [0.30, 0.85]. Moderation analyses did not yield evidence for a link between effect sizes and methodological limitations. These results demonstrate that DDs and related conditions are characterized by elevated hypnotic suggestibility and have implications for the mechanisms, risk factors, and treatment of dissociative psychopathology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lillian Wieder
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK
| | - Richard J Brown
- School of Health Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK; Psychotherapy Services, Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester Academic Health Sciences Centre, UK
| | - Trevor Thompson
- Centre for Chronic Illness and Ageing, University of Greenwich, London, UK
| | - Devin B Terhune
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK; Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
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13
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Taxometric evidence for a dimensional latent structure of hypnotic suggestibility. Conscious Cogn 2022; 98:103269. [DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2022.103269] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2021] [Revised: 12/25/2021] [Accepted: 01/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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Wieder L, Brown R, Thompson T, Terhune DB. Suggestibility in functional neurological disorder: a meta-analysis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2021; 92:150-157. [PMID: 33219037 DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2020-323706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2020] [Revised: 07/25/2020] [Accepted: 09/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Responsiveness to direct verbal suggestions (suggestibility) has long been hypothesised to represent a predisposing factor for functional neurological disorder (FND) but previous research has yielded conflicting results. The aim of this study was to quantitatively evaluate whether patients with FND display elevated suggestibility relative to controls via meta-analysis. METHODS Four electronic databases were searched in November 2019, with the search updated in April 2020, for original studies assessing suggestibility using standardised behavioural scales or suggestive symptom induction protocols in patients with FND (including somatisation disorder) and controls. The meta-analysis followed Cochrane, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses and Meta-analyses Of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE) guidelines. Data extraction and study quality coding were performed by two independent reviewers. Standardised suggestibility scores and responsiveness to symptom induction protocols were used to calculate standardised mean differences (SMDs) between groups. RESULTS Of 26 643 search results, 19 articles presenting 11 standardised suggestibility data sets (FND: n=316; control: n=360) and 11 symptom suggestibility data sets (FND: n=1285; control: n=1409) were included in random-effect meta-analyses. Meta-analyses revealed that patients with FND displayed greater suggestibility than controls on standardised behavioural scales (SMD, 0.48 (95% C, 0.15 to 0.81)) and greater responsiveness to suggestive symptom induction (SMD, 1.39 (95% CI 0.92 to 1.86)). Moderation analyses presented mixed evidence regarding the extent to which effect sizes covaried with methodological differences across studies. No evidence of publication bias was found. CONCLUSIONS These results corroborate the hypothesis that FND is characterised by heightened responsiveness to verbal suggestion. Atypical suggestibility may confer risk for FND and be a cognitive marker that can inform diagnosis and treatment of this condition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lillian Wieder
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK
| | - Richard Brown
- School of Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Trevor Thompson
- School of Human Sciences, University of Greenwich, London, UK
| | - Devin B Terhune
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK
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15
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Heyes C, Bang D, Shea N, Frith CD, Fleming SM. Knowing Ourselves Together: The Cultural Origins of Metacognition. Trends Cogn Sci 2020; 24:349-362. [PMID: 32298621 PMCID: PMC7903141 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2020.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2019] [Revised: 01/15/2020] [Accepted: 02/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Metacognition - the ability to represent, monitor and control ongoing cognitive processes - helps us perform many tasks, both when acting alone and when working with others. While metacognition is adaptive, and found in other animals, we should not assume that all human forms of metacognition are gene-based adaptations. Instead, some forms may have a social origin, including the discrimination, interpretation, and broadcasting of metacognitive representations. There is evidence that each of these abilities depends on cultural learning and therefore that cultural selection might shape human metacognition. The cultural origins hypothesis is a plausible and testable alternative that directs us towards a substantial new programme of research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cecilia Heyes
- All Souls College, University of Oxford, High Street, Oxford OX1 4AL, UK; Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3UD, UK.
| | - Dan Bang
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3UD, UK; Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK
| | - Nicholas Shea
- Institute of Philosophy, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU, UK; Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford, Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6GG, UK
| | - Christopher D Frith
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK; Institute of Philosophy, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU, UK
| | - Stephen M Fleming
- Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, University College London, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK; Max Planck University College London Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research, University College London, London WC1B 5EH, UK; Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London, 26 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AP, UK.
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Lush P, Dienes Z. Time perception and the experience of agency in meditation and hypnosis. Psych J 2019; 8:36-50. [PMID: 30912626 PMCID: PMC6849514 DOI: 10.1002/pchj.276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2018] [Revised: 01/15/2019] [Accepted: 01/22/2019] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Mindfulness meditation and hypnosis are related in opposing ways to awareness of intentions. The cold control theory of hypnosis proposes that hypnotic responding involves the experience of involuntariness while performing an actually intentional action. Hypnosis therefore relies upon inaccurate metacognition about intentional actions and experiences. Mindfulness meditation centrally involves awareness of intentions and is associated with improved metacognitive access to intentions. Therefore, mindfulness meditators and highly hypnotizable people may lie at opposite ends of a spectrum with regard to metacognitive access to intention‐related information. Here we review the theoretical background and evidence for differences in the metacognition of intentions in these groups, as revealed by chronometric measures of the awareness of voluntary action: the timing of an intention to move (Libet's “W” judgments) and the compressed perception of time between an intentional action and its outcome (“intentional binding”). We review these measures and critically evaluate their proposed connection to the experience of volition and sense of agency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Lush
- Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Falmer, UK.,School of Informatics, Chichester Building, University of Sussex, Falmer, UK
| | - Zoltan Dienes
- Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Falmer, UK.,School of Psychology, Pevensey Building, University of Sussex, Falmer, UK
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Abstract
BACKGROUND Recent research on psychedelics and hypnosis demonstrates the value of both methods in the treatment of a range of psychopathologies with overlapping applications and neurophenomenological features. The potential of harnessing the power of suggestion to influence the phenomenological response to psychedelics toward more therapeutic action has remained unexplored in recent research and thereby warrants empirical attention. AIMS Here we aim to elucidate the phenomenological and neurophysiological similarities and dissimilarities between psychedelic states and hypnosis in order to revisit how contemporary knowledge may inform their conjunct usage in psychotherapy. METHODS We review recent advances in phenomenological and neurophysiological research on psychedelics and hypnosis, and we summarize early investigations on the coupling of psychedelics and hypnosis in scientific and therapeutic contexts. Results/outcomes: We highlight commonalities and differences between psychedelics and hypnosis that point to the potential efficacy of combining the two in psychotherapy. We propose multiple research paths for coupling these two phenomena at different stages in the preparation, acute phase and follow-up of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy in order to prepare, guide and integrate the psychedelic experience with the aim of enhancing therapeutic outcomes. CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION Harnessing the power of suggestion to modulate response to psychedelics could enhance their therapeutic efficacy by helping to increase the likelihood of positive responses, including mystical-type experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Devin B Terhune
- 2 Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK
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Lush P, Moga G, McLatchie N, Dienes Z. The Sussex-Waterloo Scale of Hypnotizability (SWASH): measuring capacity for altering conscious experience. Neurosci Conscious 2018; 2018:niy006. [PMID: 30042859 PMCID: PMC6007130 DOI: 10.1093/nc/niy006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2017] [Revised: 03/19/2018] [Accepted: 04/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to respond to hypnotic suggestibility (hypnotizability) is a stable trait which can be measured in a standardized procedure consisting of a hypnotic induction and a series of hypnotic suggestions. The SWASH is a 10-item adaptation of an established scale, the Waterloo-Stanford Group C Scale of Hypnotic Suggestibility (WSGC). Development of the SWASH was motivated by three distinct aims: to reduce required screening time, to provide an induction which more accurately reflects current theoretical understanding and to supplement the objective scoring with experiential scoring. Screening time was reduced by shortening the induction, removing two suggestions which may cause distress (dream and age regression) and by modifications which allow administration in lecture theatres, so that more participants can be screened simultaneously. Theoretical issues were addressed by removing references to sleep, absorption and eye fixation and closure. Data from 418 participants at the University of Sussex and the Lancaster University are presented, along with data from 66 participants who completed a retest screening. The subjective and objective scales were highly correlated. The subjective scale showed good reliability and objective scale reliability was comparable to the WSGC. The addition of subjective scale responses to the post-hypnotic suggestion (PHS) item suggested a high probability that responses to PHS are inflated in WSGC screening. The SWASH is an effective measure of hypnotizability, which reflects changes in conscious experience and presents practical and theoretical advantages over existing scales.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Lush
- Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Falmer BN1 9RH, UK
- School of Psychology, Pevensey Building, University of Sussex, Falmer BN1 9RH, UK
| | - G Moga
- School of Psychology, Pevensey Building, University of Sussex, Falmer BN1 9RH, UK
| | - N McLatchie
- Department of Psychology, Fylde College, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YF, UK
| | - Z Dienes
- Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex, Falmer BN1 9RH, UK
- School of Psychology, Pevensey Building, University of Sussex, Falmer BN1 9RH, UK
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19
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Landry M, Lifshitz M, Raz A. Brain correlates of hypnosis: A systematic review and meta-analytic exploration. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2017; 81:75-98. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.02.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2016] [Revised: 01/31/2017] [Accepted: 02/20/2017] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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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.
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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
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21
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Lush P, Caspar EA, Cleeremans A, Haggard P, Magalhães De Saldanha da Gama PA, Dienes Z. The Power of Suggestion: Posthypnotically Induced Changes in the Temporal Binding of Intentional Action Outcomes. Psychol Sci 2017; 28:661-669. [PMID: 28485704 DOI: 10.1177/0956797616687015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
The sense of agency is the experience of initiating and controlling one's voluntary actions and their outcomes. Intentional binding (i.e., when voluntary actions and their outcomes are perceived to occur closer together in time than involuntary actions and their outcomes) is increased in intentional action but requires no explicit reflection on agency. The reported experience of involuntariness is central to hypnotic responding, during which strategic action is experienced as involuntary. We report reduced intentional binding in a hypnotically induced experience of involuntariness, providing an objective correlate of reports of involuntariness. We argue that this reduced binding results from the diminished influence of motor intentions in the generation of the sense of agency when beliefs about whether an action is intended are altered. Thus, intentional binding depends on awareness of intentions. This finding shows that changes in metacognition of intentions affect perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Lush
- 1 Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex
- 2 School of Psychology, University of Sussex
| | | | | | - Patrick Haggard
- 4 Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London
| | | | - Zoltan Dienes
- 1 Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, University of Sussex
- 2 School of Psychology, University of Sussex
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Abstract
We investigate conditions in which more accurate metacognition may lead to greater susceptibility to illusion and thus conditions under which mindfulness meditation may lead to less accurate perceptions. Specifically, greater awareness of intentions may lead to an illusory compression of time between a voluntary action and its outcome ("intentional binding"). Here, we report that experienced Buddhist mindfulness meditators rather than non-meditators display a greater illusory shift of the timing of an outcome toward an intentional action. Mindfulness meditation involves awareness of causal connections between different mental states, including intentions. We argue that this supports improvements in metacognition targeted at motor intentions. Changes in metacognitive ability may result in an earlier and less veridical experience of the timing of action outcomes either through increased access to sensorimotor pre-representations of an action outcome or by affording greater precision to action timing judgements. Furthermore, as intentional binding is an implicit measure of the sense of agency; these results also provide evidence that mindfulness meditators experience a stronger sense of agency.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Lush
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex and Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, Brighton, UK
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Pevensey Building, Falmer, BN1 9QH UK
| | - Jim Parkinson
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex and Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, Brighton, UK
| | - Zoltan Dienes
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex and Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science, Brighton, UK
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