The results suggest that cannabis is an important confound in studies of MDMA-related cognitive impairment, and that previously reported cognitive impairment in MDMA users may have been caused by coincident cannabis use.

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Neuropsychological frontal lobe tests were used to compare individuals with high (n = 8) and low (n = 9) hypnotizability during both baseline and hypnosis conditions. Subjects were assessed on two hypnotic susceptibility scales and a test battery that included the Stroop test, word fluency to letter- and semantic-designated categories, tests of simple reaction time and choice reaction time, a vigilance task, and a questionnaire of 40 self-descriptive statements of focused attention. Effects for hypnotic susceptibility and hypnosis/control conditions were scant across the dependent variables. High hypnotizables scored higher on the questionnaire at baseline, and their performance on the word-fluency task during hypnosis was reduced to a greater extent than lows. Findings indicate that although the frontal area may play an important role regarding hypnotic response, the mechanisms seem to be much more complex than mere general inhibition.

SynopsisTwo groups of 16 subjects, 8 of each gender, were examined on two occasions, one group before and after restricted environmental stimulation with floatation, and the other group without floatation was the control group. They were examined with a tactile object discrimination task carried out with each hand separately while blindfolded, and with a recognition memory test for words and unfamiliar faces, a test validated on neurological patients with left and right hemispheric lesions respectively. Consistent with both tasks the floatation group showed a significantly greater enhancement of right hemispheric processing after floatation than was found when retesting the controls. The results were distinguished from previous research on hypnosis where the same relative state of hemispheric imbalance was achieved with the same tasks, but largely through inhibitory influences on the left hemisphere.

The contemporary perspective on altered states of conscious is surveyed as an introduction to commentaries on Kallio and Revonsuo's lead article in Contemporary Hypnosis (2003). It is noted that the study of consciousness, unconscious processing, and altered states of consciousness are central issues in neuroscience, heralding fresh approaches to the neuroscientific understanding of hypnosis. These include attempts to bring together new neurophysiological methods with phenomenological report. The alteration in hypnosis of anterior brain processes including the anterior cingulated cortex and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex are particularly productive areas of research. The lack of engagement with neuroscientific evidence from theorists with a purely social and cognitive orientation to hypnosis is noted, with examples provided from research on attention and relaxation. Unifying the field awaits active collaboration between scientists with neurophysiological and social orientations.

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to the neurophysiological, psychological, and behavioral components of altered states of consciousness. Several psychophysiological laboratories participated in this endeavor and exchanged their results, ideas, and concepts at four consecutive special symposia held in Sils-Maria, Switzerland, from 1999 to 2002.

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