Hypnotic susceptibility is positively related to a subset of schizotypy items

Jamieson, G.A.; Gruzelier, John

doi:10.1002/ch.214

Cited by 21 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…As has been developed elsewhere (Gruzelier, 2002a) a highly flexible nervous system may under some circumstances be a vulnerable one and reflect vulnerabilities for pathology through both imbalances in the internal milieu and susceptibilities to psychological stressors. The evidence of associations with the schizotypal personality provides one such example (Jamieson and Gruzelier, 2001;Gruzelier, De Pascalis, Jamieson, Laidlaw, Naito, Bennett and Dwivedi, 2004). Recent evidence shows strong relations in medical students between hypnotizability and a range of personality variables, including low self-directedness, schizotypy, affective distress, anxiety and depression, as well as with altered states of consciousness, imaginative involvement, and self-transcendence .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Frontal functions, connectivity and neural efficiency underpinning hypnosis and hypnotic susceptibility

Gruzelier

2006

Contemp. Hypnosis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

An update is provided of an earlier review (Gruzelier, 1998) of the range of evidence for neurophysiological changes in frontal and lateralized functions with hypnosis, changes which have differentiated high from low hypnotically susceptible subjects, and which led to a working model and neuropsychological translation of the hypnotic induction process. New evidence is outlined from an fMRI/EEG study. This study also disclosed the importance of neural efficiency in left lateral frontal and anterior cingulate structures, and their connectivity, for distinguishing high from low hypnotic susceptibility both in hypnosis and in the everyday state. This amplifies earlier constructs such as cognitive flexibility. Though the focus will be largely on the alteration of connections with the anterior brain and its corresponding alterations of function, interhemispheric, posterior and subcortical connectivity is also considered. The practical implications for the interaction between the hypnotherapist and subject are considered, including stage hypnosis. Key words: EEG, fMRI, hypnosis, hypnotic susceptibility, neurophysiology, stage hypnosis Neurocognitive changes with hypnosis Selective inhibition, dissociation and disconnectionSince the time of Janet dissociation has been historically the dominating cognitive theory of hypnosis (Hilgard, 1965;Bowers, 1992). Now a range of evidence is showing that following instructions of hypnosis a different and unusual pattern of abilities and disabilities is brought into play in hypnotizable subjects compared with the pre-hypnosis state. These involve dissociations between cognitive processes, and disconnections between brain regions together with selective inhibition and enhancement of abilities and processes (Gruzelier, 1998;2004). The likening of hypnosis to an inhibitory process is enshrined in the term hypnosis, itself derived from Hypnos the god of sleep, and initially made popular by Pavlov's inhibitory concepts. Early electrophysiological studies found no evidence of sleep per se (Crawford and Gruzelier, 1992), nevertheless frontal inhibition may represent one dynamic of frontal involvement in hypnosis (e.g. Gruzelier, 1990;1998;Woody and Bowers, 1994;Woody and Sadler, 1998), and one which may be an alternative to disconnection, or be in parallel with it. The experimental evidence for changes in anterior brain activity will be considered in turn. Error detection and evaluation Neurophysiological fractionation of processes, to include possible inhibition, has been demonstrated between error detection processes and error evaluation processes and with the apparent inhibition or uncoupling of the latter, both of which are processes emanating from the anterior cingulate. These processes were measured with event-related potentials (ERPs) in a Stroop-like conflict task (Kaiser, Barker, Haenschel, Baldeweg and Gruzelier, 1997). The ERPs disclosed a dissociation not evident behaviourally. In the highly hypnotizable participants error detection rates decreased and reaction times (RT...

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Frontal functions, connectivity and neural efficiency underpinning hypnosis and hypnotic susceptibility

Gruzelier

2006

Contemp. Hypnosis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Hypnotic suggestibility has previously been found to correlate with various ostensibly pathological symptoms such as perceptual distortions (Gruzelier, De Pascalis, Jamieson, et al, 2004;Jamieson & Gruzelier, 2001) and to be associated with exposure to abuse or severe punishment (J. R. Hilgard, 1979;Nash & Lynn, 1985-86;Nash, Lynn, & Givens, 1984). Research has suggested that individuals exhibiting pathological dissociation may form a taxon or latent subtype (Waller, Putnam, & Carlson, 1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dissociative tendencies and individual differences in high hypnotic suggestibility

Terhune

Cardeña

Lindgren

2011

Cognitive Neuropsychiatry

105

108

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction: Inconsistencies in the relationship between dissociation and hypnosis may result from heterogeneity among highly suggestible individuals, in particular the existence of distinct highly suggestible subtypes that are of relevance to models of psychopathology and the consequences of trauma. This study contrasted highly suggestible subtypes high or low in dissociation on measures of hypnotic responding, cognitive functioning, and psychopathology. Methods: Twenty-one low suggestible (LS), 19 low dissociative highly suggestible (LDHS), and 11 high dissociative highly suggestible (HDHS) participants were administered hypnotic suggestibility scales and completed measures of free recall, working memory capacity, imagery, fantasy-proneness, psychopathology, and exposure to stressful life events. Results: HDHS participants were more responsive to positive and negative hallucination suggestions and experienced greater involuntariness during hypnotic responding. They also exhibited impaired working memory capacity, elevated pathological fantasy and dissociative symptomatology, and a greater incidence of exposure to stressful life events. In contrast, LDHS participants displayed superior object visual imagery. Conclusions: These results provide further evidence for two highly suggestible subtypes: a dissociative subtype characterized by deficits in executive functioning and a predisposition to psychopathology and a subtype that exhibits superior imagery and no observable deficits in functioning.

show abstract

“…Neuro-cognitive flexibility has been invoked to account for associations found between high hypnotizability and schizotypal features, aside from the ability to shift both cognitive strategies and states of awareness, as in sleep, and to undergo functional neurocognitive changes following instructions of hypnosis (Gruzelier, 2002;in press). These associations have included a rapid, free-flowing association of thoughts and ideas (Santarcangelo and Sebastiani, 2004) and other aspects of the cognitive activation syndrome of schizotypy as well as the perceptual flexibility and magical thinking of the unreality syndrome (Gruzelier, 2001;Gruzelier, Jamieson, Croft et al, in press;Jamieson, Laidlaw et al, under review;Laidlaw, Naito, Dwivedi et al, under review).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Hypnotizability and immunological response to psychological intervention in HIV

Laidlaw

Kerstein

Bennett

et al. 2004

Contemporary Hypnosis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: This pilot study related hypnotizability to changes in HIV immune blood markers after two psychological interventions. Design:The mean of two blood assays prior to intervention was compared to the results of the blood assay after the intervention.Intervention: A course of four weekly 2-hour training sessions coupled with daily selfhypnosis practice was given to 13 participants with diagnosed HIV and for a further 9 participants a similar course was given in a Japanese healing method called Johrei (a total of 22 participants). All were naïve to anti-retroviral medication. Main outcome measures: CD4+ T cell counts, viral load of the HIV virus in blood.Results: When highly hypnotizable subjects were compared to those of lower hypnotizability in a repeated measures analysis, their CD4+ t-lymphocyte counts were significantly higher ( p = 0.007). This was achieved by the highly hynotizable subjects non-significantly raising their CD4+ counts while the CD4+ counts of the less hynotizable subjects declined significantly (mean change = -79.4 p = 0.006). The differences in CD4+ T cell % of lymphocytes and the viral loads did not differ. Conclusions:This pilot study indicates that hypnotizability may predict immunological response to psychological interventions in HIV.

show abstract

Hypnotic susceptibility is positively related to a subset of schizotypy items

Cited by 21 publications

References 19 publications

Frontal functions, connectivity and neural efficiency underpinning hypnosis and hypnotic susceptibility

Frontal functions, connectivity and neural efficiency underpinning hypnosis and hypnotic susceptibility

Dissociative tendencies and individual differences in high hypnotic suggestibility

Hypnotizability and immunological response to psychological intervention in HIV

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About