Empirical resolution of the altered state debate

Kirsch, Irving

doi:10.1002/ch.17

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 15 publications

(20 reference statements)

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“…(Kallio & Revonsuo, 2005, p. 51) After responding to the various commentaries (Gruzelier, 2005;Kihlstrom, 2005;Kirsch, 2005;Lynn, Fassler & Knox, 2005;Naish, 2005;Spiegel, 2005;Wagstaff & Cole, 2005;Woody & Sadler, 2005) on their first article (Kallio & Revonoso, 2003), Kallio and Revonsuo (2005) concluded their follow-up by advising: "[T]he concept of altered state of consciousness (ASC) still lacks a commonly accepted definition and is in need of further clarification" (p. 46). Hence, the nature of hypnotism and to what extent alterations in consciousness or "trance" effects contribute to the experience of hypnotism continues to remain an important point of contention.…”

Section: Hypnotism Trance and Hypnotic Depthmentioning

confidence: 98%

Trance State Effects and Imagery Vividness Before and During a Hypnotic Assessment:A Preliminary Study

Pekala

Maurer

Kumar

et al. 2010

International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis

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This preliminary study explored the relationship between imagery vividness before and during a hypnotic phenomenological assessment procedure, the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory-Hypnotic Assessment Procedure (PCI-HAP), while also assessing trance (hypnoidal) state effects and several other variables. The PCI-HAP allows the assessment of trance state effects associated with hypnotism to be quantified and statistically assessed. The 102 subjects completed the PCI-HAP along with several other questionnaire items. Correlational and regression analyses suggested that imagery vividness during hypnotism (hypnotic imagoic suggestibility) was predicted by combined imagery vividness before hypnotism and trance (altered) state effects during hypnotism. When measuring several additional variables, imagery vividness during hypnotism was found to be a function of self-reported hypnotic depth and additional other variables. The usefulness of these results for better understanding imagery vividness before and during hypnotism is discussed.

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Section: Hypnotism Trance and Hypnotic Depthmentioning

confidence: 98%

Trance State Effects and Imagery Vividness Before and During a Hypnotic Assessment:A Preliminary Study

Pekala

Maurer

Kumar

et al. 2010

International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis

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“…According to one theoretical approach, this 'pure' hypnosis involves a change in brain function that serves as the special 'background state' of hypnosis. This background state is supposed to enable the altered experiences that will be produced by further suggestions, should such be given Revonsuo, 2003, 2005; see also Kirsch, 2005). Furthermore, the 'background state', if it exists as an empirical reality, should also have some objectively measurable neurophysiological correlates.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Hypnosis induces a changed composition of brain oscillations in EEG: a case study

Fingelkurts

Kallio

et al. 2007

Contemporary Hypnosis

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Cognitive functions associated with the frontal lobes of the brain may be specifi cally involved in hypnosis. Thus, the frontal area of the brain has recently been of great interest when searching for neural changes associated with hypnosis. We tested the hypothesis that EEG during pure hypnosis would differ from the normal non-hypnotic EEG especially above the frontal area of the brain. The composition of brain oscillations was examined in a broad frequency band (1-30 Hz) in the electroencephalogram (EEG) of a single virtuoso subject. Data was collected in two independent data collection periods separated by one year. The 'hypnotic' and 'non-hypnotic' conditions were repeated multiple times during each data acquisition session. We found that pure hypnosis induced reorganization in the composition of brain oscillations especially in prefrontal and right occipital EEG channels. Additionally, hypnosis was characterized by consistent rightside-dominance asymmetry. In the prefrontal EEG channels the composition of brain oscillations included spectral patterns during hypnosis that were completely different from those observed during non-hypnosis. Furthermore, the EEG spectral patterns observed overall during the hypnotic condition did not return to the pre-hypnotic baseline EEG immediately when hypnosis was terminated. This suggests that for the brain, the return to a normal neurophysiological baseline condition after hypnosis is a time-consuming process. The present results suggest that pure hypnosis is characterized by an increase in alertness and heightened attention, refl ected as cognitive and neuronal activation. Taken together, the present data provide support for the hypothesis that in a very highly hypnotizable person (a hypnotic virtuoso) hypnosis as such may be accompanied by a changed pattern of neural activity in the brain.

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What is an altered state of consciousness?

Revonsuo

Kallio²,

Sikka³

2009

Philosophical Psychology

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Altered State of Consciousness'' (ASC) has been defined as a changed overall pattern of conscious experience, or as the subjective feeling and explicit recognition that one's own subjective experience has changed. We argue that these traditional definitions fail to draw a clear line between altered and normal states of consciousness (NSC). We outline a new definition of ASC and argue that the proper way to understand the concept of ASC is to regard it as a representational notion: the alteration that has happened is not an alteration of consciousness (or subjective experience) per se, but an alteration in the informational or representational relationships between consciousness and the world. An altered state of consciousness is defined as a state in which the neurocognitive background mechanisms of consciousness have an increased tendency to produce misrepresentations such as hallucinations, delusions, and memory distortions. Paradigm examples of such generally misrepresentational, temporary, and reversible states are dreaming, psychotic episodes, psychedelic drug experiences, some epileptic seizures, and hypnosis in highly hypnotizable subjects. The representational definition of ASC should be applied in the theoretical and empirical studies of ASCs to unify and clarify the conceptual basis of ASC research.

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Empirical resolution of the altered state debate

Cited by 4 publications

References 15 publications

Trance State Effects and Imagery Vividness Before and During a Hypnotic Assessment:A Preliminary Study

Trance State Effects and Imagery Vividness Before and During a Hypnotic Assessment:A Preliminary Study

Hypnosis induces a changed composition of brain oscillations in EEG: a case study

What is an altered state of consciousness?

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