Geophysical variables and behavior: XXXIX. Alterations in imaginings and suggestibility during brief magnetic field exposures

Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation (NIBS), Hypnosis, and Hypnotizability: Literature Review and Future Directions

Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation (NIBS) stands as an advanced technology embraced by researchers and clinicians to influence thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. The prevalent NIBS methods include transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), both proficient in either exciting or depressing neural activities in specific cortical regions. Recently, NIBS has been integrated into hypnosis research with the goal of enhancing hypnotizability. Specifically, the limited existing studies have predominantly focused on the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) due to its significant role in neutral hypnosis. Overall, these studies suggest the fascinating potential to alter hypnotizability and hypnotic phenomena, although the impact on responsiveness to suggestions remains modest. In contrast to psychological and pharmacological methods, NIBS enables alterations in hypnotic experiences that are independent of operators and noninvasive. This grants researchers the chance to employ a causal approach in investigating the brain-behavior relationship associated with suggestibility. The present paper evaluates existing NIBS studies in this domain, delving into the neurocognitive mechanisms at play and their potential implications for hypnosis research and practice.

Temporal Lobe Signs and Enhanced Pleasantness Scores for Words Generated during Spontaneous Narratives

Temporal lobe function has been strongly implicated in the processes of semantic selection. Within this context, enhanced activity of deep mesiobasal structures is expected to influence the affective dimensions of language use. Quantitative measures of the evaluative (pleasantness) dimension but not the activity (arousal) dimension of words generated during narratives of subjective experiences within an exotic setting were significantly correlated with the numbers of temporal lobe signs.

Human performance and physiology: a statistical power analysis of ELF electromagnetic field research

Research examining the effects of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) on human performance and physiology has produced inconsistent results; this might be attributable to low statistical power. Statistical power refers to the probability of obtaining a statistically significant result, given the fact that a real effect exists. The results of a survey of published investigations of the effects of EMFs on human performance and physiology show that statistical power levels are very low, ranging from a mean of .08 for small effect sizes to .46 for large effect sizes. Implications of these findings for the interpretation of results are discussed along with suggestions for increasing statistical power.

Enhanced hypnotizability by cerebrally applied magnetic fields depends upon the order of hemispheric presentation: an anistropic effect

A significant alteration in the hypnotizability of normal subjects after brief (15 min) exposures to weak (1 microT) pulsed magnetic fields over the temporal lobes was determined by the serial order of hemispheric stimulation. Only subjects who received the right hemispheric stimulation first displayed significantly elevated hypnosis induction profile scores (effect size equivalent to a correlation of 0.41). Implications for a technology that can: a) modify hypnotizability, b) encourage the consolidation of quasiexperiences that are reconstructed as autobiographical memory, and c) change the sense of self, are discussed.

Temporal lobe signs and enhanced pleasantness scores for words generated during spontaneous narratives

Temporal lobe function has been strongly implicated in the processes of semantic selection. Within this context, enhanced activity of deep mesiobasal structures is expected to influence the affective dimensions of language use. Quantitative measures of the evaluative (pleasantness) dimension but not the activity (arousal) dimension of words generated during narratives of subjective experiences within an exotic setting were significantly correlated with the numbers of temporal lobe signs.

Geophysical variables and behavior: LV. Predicting the details of visitor experiences and the personality of experients: the temporal lobe factor

The visitor experience, a more intense form of the normal sense of presence, emphasizes the deep belief of personal contact with an extraterrestrial (or religious) entity. Phenomenological details of visitor experiences are expected to reflect the functions of deep temporal lobe structures; common details involve cosmic meaningfulness, vestibular experiences, flickering, complex visual sensations and alimentary references. After intense experiences, interictal-like behaviors similar to religious conversions (widening affect, sense of personal, desire to spread the word, concern about Man's destiny) emerge. Normal people who are prone to these experiences show frequent temporal lobe signs and specific personality characteristics that include enhanced creativity, suggestibility, mild hypomania, anxiety, and emotional lability. Learning histories that encourage the use of right temporal lobe functions for the consolidation of memory, such as compartmentalization of beliefs or repression due to early sexual abuse, predispose to intense visitor experiences. The most frequent precipitants are psychological depression, personal (existential) stress and proximal exposure to the focal tectonic strain fields that accompany luminous phenomena. Possible neuropsychological mechanisms are discussed.