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A neat experiment has shown that hypnosis works by actually changing the way our brains work. Using a brain scanner, researchers were able to observe how different areas of the brain were activated according to the instructions given to those being hypnotized. For example, subjects were told that the image bellow was gray

COLOR ME HYNOTIZED: Under hypnosis, people saw shades of gray in this pattern of brightly-colored rectangles. Brain scans showed that hypnosis changed the way the brain worked.

According to the researchers, Kosslyn and Thompson:

…the right side of the brain alone responded to what the subjects saw when they were not hypnotized, but both sides responded under hypnosis.

What we have shown for the first time, is that hypnosis changes conscious experience in a way not possible when we are not under hypnosis.

BUT - importantly, Kosslyn and Thompson only got these results for people that they had previously identified as ” highly hypnotizables” They did not get the same changes in brain function or change in perception of color for those that scored low on the hypnotizability scale.

For we mere mortals, we can take two important conclusions away from this experiment.

1) Hypnotism has a real power to change the way people think

2) We need to be able to identify those people that are “hypnotizable” if we are to be successful in using the power of hypnosis. (However, there is some research that suggests we have the power to influence this one - more on this in the next post)

Want to know if someone can be hypnotised? Give them this quiz (developed by some big wigs psychologists- see below):

1. Do you have many vivid memories from your early childhood?
   Yes | No
2. Do you tend to lose yourself in movies, books, or TV shows?
   Yes | No
3. Do you tend to know what people are going to say before they say it?
   Yes | No
4. Do powerful visual images ever trigger a physical sensation in you? For example, do you feel thirsty during the desert scenes in Lawrence of Arabia?
   Yes | No
5. Have you ever zoned out while going somewhere and wondered how you’d gotten there?
   Yes | No
6. Do you sometimes think in images rather than in words?
   Yes | No
7. Do you ever sense when someone has entered a room, even before seeing him?
   Yes | No
8. Do you like to look at cloud shapes?
   Yes | No
9. Do smells evoke powerful memories for you?
   Yes | No
10. Have you ever been deeply moved by a sunset?
    Yes | No

The more “yeses” they give, the more hypnotizable they are! For detailed scoring follow this link

(NB: This quiz was developed by Auke Tellegen, Ph.D., emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis; and Etzel Cardeña, Ph.D., chair of psychology and anthropology at the University of Texas-Pan American, in Edinburg)

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Hypnosis has been appearing in cartoons since they were invented! Is it because this is one medium where the power of hypnosis is absolute? Or driven by our fascination and fear that hypnosis may have the power to control us against our will?

This light hearted look at hypnosis raises the primal question:

Can we trust ANYONE with this power?

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Just how much influence can hypnotism provide? The answer, you would think, would best be provided by research. Not so! In fact researchers seem to have got themselves into all sorts of strife trying to study hypnosis.

Take the question of “suggestibility” There have been numerous studies attempting to find out what, if anything, makes people more suggestible. Apart from increasing the number of words that no-one can pronounce let alone understand, confusion seems to have been the main result.

Research finds that SUCCESS IN HYPNOSIS DEPENDS ON MOTIVATION

More on this in a later post. For now we can get some clarity on the subject from an experienced hypnotist Joshua Seth, who had some definitive points to make when interviewed for the Stamford University rag, The Stamford Daily

According to Seth, we can use hypnotism to hot up our sex life and get way better financial deals! Some excerpts from the interview may raise your eyebrows:

BS: Have you ever erotically hypnotized a girlfriend?

JS: Yeah, why not? Wouldn’t you, if you could?……. Read more

and…

BS: Do you get really good deals when you buy a car?

JS: Hypnosis can be applied to sales techniques and all areas of human influence, so it’s very useful when closing deals, negotiating rates, romancing people……Read more

He also provides some insights into this concept of “suggestibility”:

JS: ….A hypnotist is looking for genuine enthusiasm. I give hypnotic pretests, where everyone in the audience gets to experience it. The key to being able to be hypnotized is to want to be hypnotized. If people are there just to try to prove they can’t be hypnotized, they’re just working against themselves.

As you will see in an upcoming post, recent research does indeed suggest that success in hypnosis depends on motivation. Does that explain Seth’s success in getting good car deals?

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Hypnosis has been used as a way to entertain (stage hypnosis), as a way to heal disorders (medical hypnosis) and as a way to dominate and control others!

In a relatively new application, hypnosis is being used as a tool for “focus group” research by marketers. Perhaps it is only surprising that it has taken so long to be used as a publicly acknowledged tool for marketing! And it is catching on fast as more and more companies are rushing to get in on the new buzz marketing strategy.

Brandvisioning, for example, suggest that:

By accessing the subconscious mind of their consumer, marketers can gain new, and sometimes surprising information…..Hypnosis is the best way to get access to the deepest area of the consumer’s mind.

The twist, of course, is that there is no suggestion that the consumer is being controlled, here. Rather, hypnosis is being used to more accurately “mine” information from consumers.

What’s more, big businesses is spending serious money to use hypnosis this way. Companies like Volvo, no less, are relying on these techniques.

In a recent report, Keith Hein noted

Volvo equals safety. In focus group after focus group, participants said the same thing. So, Euro RSCG Worldwide, New York, did the obvious thing: It called in a hypnotist.

Members of these unique Volvo focus groups were asked to test-drive the car. Immediately afterwards they were hypnotized and asked their true feelings about the brand. It wasn’t pretty: Many revealed that Volvo also equals being middle-aged. That idea “for some people was suffocating,” said Michael Fanuele, head of planning at Euro. “Hypnosis helped get past the cliches. We needed the conversation to get to a deeper, more emotional place.”

In other words, hypnosis now offers a whole new way for doing market research!!

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Hypnosis can be a powerful tool. But there are many fears that people have about hypnosis that means they are reluctant to either use it or allow themselves to be a subject.

Most people don’t like the thought of giving control of their thoughts or actions to someone else -understandably! But Hollywood and stage shows have both used hypnosis as a means of entertaining their audiences.

And it is more entertaining to present hypnosis as having dramatic effects - perhaps even sinister! Anyone who has watched a stage show about hyponosis will know how it seems as if the hypnotist has conplete control over his subjects.

“Not so!” says David Kay, UK Hypnotist. In fact, he says:

“There is no question of losing control or being made to do anything against your will by using hypnosis. You are in control throughout the session. Experiments have proved that people cannot be made to do anything that is truly against their will, or against their values, either during the hypnotic session or afterwards. The unwanted or noxious suggestion is always rejected.” Follow this link for more on myths.

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