Look into my brain, deep into my brain ...

Researchers from the University of Geneva have been looking into the neuroscience of hypnosis. The participants in their study were asked to make a hand movement in response to a cue, then, depending on what signal they heard either make the movement or keep still. Some of the participants were told they could not move their left hand while others were hypnotized into believing it was paralysed. The researchers found that hypnosis produced changes in the prefrontal and parietal areas involved in attention and in the connections between the motor cortex and other parts of the brain. Hypnosis was also associated with an enhanced activation of the precuneus, a brain region involved in memory and self-imagery. The researchers concluded that hypnosis worked by altering people's self-imagery so that they genuinely thought they were hypnotized rather than by affecting their motor circuits and their ability to move.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090624153102.htm

Look into my eyes, not around the eyes ...

Children are more easily hypnotized than adults and hypnotherapy has been found to be effective in childhood disorders such as asthma and chronic and acute pain and in helping children deal with unpleasant procedures associated with cancer treatment. A review of studies on the use of hypnotherapy for mental-health problems in children found 60 articles. Their findings indicated that hypnotherapy may be useful for a wide range of disorders and problems and may be particularly valuable in the treatment of anxiety disorders and trauma-related conditions.

Huynh, Melanie Ekholdt, Vandvik, Inger Helene and Direth, Trond H. - Hypnotherapy in child psychiatry: the state of the art Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry July 2008, 13(3), 365-376