PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Not getting sleepy? Stanford research explains why hypnosis doesn't work for all

2012-10-04
(Press-News.org) STANFORD, Calif. — Not everyone is able to be hypnotized, and new research from the Stanford University School of Medicine shows how the brains of such people differ from those who can easily be.

The study, published in the October issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, uses data from functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging to identify how the areas of the brain associated with executive control and attention tend to have less activity in people who cannot be put into a hypnotic trance.

"There's never been a brain signature of being hypnotized, and we're on the verge of identifying one," said David Spiegel, MD, the paper's senior author and a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences. Such an advance would enable scientists to understand better the mechanisms underlying hypnosis and how it can be used more widely and effectively in clinical settings, added Spiegel, who also directs the Stanford Center for Integrative Medicine.

Spiegel estimates that one-quarter of the patients he sees cannot be hypnotized, though a person's hypnotizability is not linked with any specific personality trait. "There's got to be something going on in the brain," he said.

Hypnosis is described as a trance-like state during which a person has a heightened focus and concentration. It has been shown to help with brain control over sensation and behavior, and has been used clinically to help patients manage pain, control stress and anxiety and combat phobias.

Hypnosis works by modulating activity in brain regions associated with focused attention, and this study offers compelling new details regarding neural capacity for hypnosis.

"Our results provide novel evidence that altered functional connectivity in [the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex] and [the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex] may underlie hypnotizability," the researchers wrote in their paper.

For the study, Spiegel and his Stanford colleagues performed functional and structural MRI scans of the brains of 12 adults with high hypnotizability and 12 adults with low hypnotizability.

The researchers looked at the activity of three different networks in the brain: the default-mode network, used when one's brain is idle; the executive-control network, which is involved in making decisions; and the salience network, which is involved in deciding something is more important than something else.

The findings, Spiegel said, were clear: Both groups had an active default-mode network, but highly hypnotizable participants showed greater co-activation between components of the executive-control network and the salience network. More specifically, in the brains of the highly hypnotizable group the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, an executive-control region of the brain, appeared to be activated in tandem with the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, which is part of the salience network and plays a role in focusing of attention. By contrast, there was little functional connectivity between these two areas of the brain in those with low hypnotizability.

Spiegel said he was pleased that he and his team found something so clear. "The brain is complicated, people are complicated, and it was surprising we were able to get such a clear signature," he explained.

Spiegel also said the work confirms that hypnotizability is less about personality variables and more about cognitive style. "Here we're seeing a neural trait," he said.

The authors' next step is to further explore how these functional networks change during hypnosis. Spiegel and his team have recruited high- and low-hypnotizable patients for another study during which fMRI assessment will be done during hypnotic states. Funding for that work is being provided by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.

###

Funding for this study came from the Nissan Research Center, the Randolph H. Chase, MD Fund II, the Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

The study's first-author is Fumiko Hoeft, MD, PhD, who was formerly an instructor at Stanford's Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research and is now an associate professor of psychiatry at UCSF. Other co-authors are John Gabrieli, PhD, a professor at MIT (then a professor of psychology at Stanford); Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli, a research scientist at MIT (then a science and engineering associate at Stanford); Brian Haas, PhD, an assistant professor at the University of Georgia (then a postdoctoral scholar in the Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research at Stanford); Roland Bammer, PhD, associate professor of radiology; and Vinod Menon, PhD, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.

Information on the medical school's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, which also supported this work, is available at http://psychiatry.stanford.edu/.

The Stanford University School of Medicine consistently ranks among the nation's top medical schools, integrating research, medical education, patient care and community service. For more news about the school, please visit http://mednews.stanford.edu. The medical school is part of Stanford Medicine, which includes Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. For information about all three, please visit http://stanfordmedicine.org/about/news.html.

PRINT MEDIA CONTACT: Michelle Brandt at (650) 723-0272 (mbrandt@stanford.edu)
BROADCAST MEDIA CONTACT: M.A. Malone at (650) 723-6912 (mamalone@stanford.edu)

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

NASA sees fifteenth Atlantic tropical depression born

NASA sees fifteenth Atlantic tropical depression born
2012-10-04
The fifteenth tropical depression of the Atlantic Ocean hurricane season was born on Oct. 3 an NASA's Terra satellite captured an image of it as it came to be. NASA's Terra satellite passed over newborn Tropical Depression 15 on Oct. 3 at 8:52 a.m. EDT in the central Atlantic Ocean and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument captured an image of the storm. Shortly after the image was created, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center looking at the MODIS and other satellite data determined that the low pressure area had become a depression. On ...

NASA sees strongest side of Tropical Storm Maliksi

NASA sees strongest side of Tropical Storm Maliksi
2012-10-04
NASA's Aqua satellite took an infrared "picture" of Tropical Storm Maliksi in the western North Pacific Ocean and identified the strongest part of the storm being east of its center. On Oct. 3 at 1500 UTC (11 a.m. EDT), Tropical storm Maliksi had maximum sustained winds of 45 knots (51.7 mph/83.3 kph). It was located about 470 nautical miles (541 miles/870.4 km) south-southeast of Tokyo, Japan, near 29.4 North and 143.1 East. Maliksi was speeding to the north-northeast at 21 knots (24.1 mph/38.8 kph). The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument that flies ...

Nadine bringing tropical storm conditions back to the Azores

Nadine bringing tropical storm conditions back to the Azores
2012-10-04
VIDEO: On Oct. 2 at 11:43 p.m. EDT, heavy convective thunderstorms were found in Nadine's northeastern quadrant by NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. Wind shear had separated the center... Click here for more information. NASA satellites continue to gather data from Tropical Storm Nadine on its twenty-second day of life in the eastern Atlantic as it threatens the Azores again. NASA data has shown that wind shear is pushing the bulk of clouds and ...

NASA identifies where Tropical Storm Gaemi's power lies

NASA identifies where Tropical Storm Gaemis power lies
2012-10-04
Tropical Storm Gaemi is packing a lot of power around its middle and on one side of the storm, and that was apparent in NASA satellite imagery. NASA's Terra satellite passed over Tropical Storm Gaemi on Oct. 3 at 0300 UTC (11:00 p.m. EDT, Oct. 2) and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument captured a true-color image of the storm. The image showed a bright white, rounded area around the center that indicated higher, stronger thunderstorms. Higher, stronger thunderstorms also wrapped around the center in a wide band that stretches from north ...

Scientists develop novel technology to identify biomarkers for ulcerative colitis

Scientists develop novel technology to identify biomarkers for ulcerative colitis
2012-10-04
JUPITER, FL, October 3, 2012 – Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have developed a novel technology that can identify, in animal models, potential biomarkers of ulcerative colitis, a type of inflammatory bowel disease that affects the lining of the colon. The study was published October 3, 2012, in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. The new research focuses on the protein arginine deiminases (PAD), which have been implicated in a number of diseases, including cancer, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. PADs participate ...

BPA linked to thyroid hormone changes in pregnant women, newborns

2012-10-04
Berkeley — Bisphenol A (BPA), an estrogen-like compound that has drawn increased scrutiny in recent years, has been linked to changes in thyroid hormone levels in pregnant women and newborn boys, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. Normal thyroid function is essential to the healthy growth and cognitive development of fetuses and children. Yet, until this study, to be published Thursday, Oct. 4, in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, little was known about the effects of BPA exposure on thyroid hormones in pregnant ...

Compassion meditation may boost neural basis of empathy, Emory study finds

2012-10-04
A compassion-based meditation program can significantly improve a person's ability to read the facial expressions of others, finds a study published by Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. This boost in empathic accuracy was detected through both behavioral testing of the study participants and through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans of their brain activity. "It's an intriguing result, suggesting that a behavioral intervention could enhance a key aspect of empathy," says lead author Jennifer Mascaro, a post-doctoral fellow in anthropology at ...

DatingMashup.com Announces its Sponsorship of Phoenix Fashion Week

2012-10-04
DatingMashup.com is proud to announce its sponsorship of Phoenix Fashion Week. Dale P. Ballard, Founder and CEO of DatingMashup.com explains, "We'll be providing a special gift that will be found inside various VIP "swag" bags. We think this is a wonderful event not only for DatingMashup.com members, but for anyone who loves fashion and enjoys donating to charitable causes." This exciting event is taking place at The Talking Stick Resort Casino in Scottsdale, Arizona. The event will house thousands of people over four days and will include a ...

New Harmony Soap Company to Debut Artisan Wine Soaps at Wabash Valley Wine & Art Festival

2012-10-04
New Harmony Soap Company, a maker of natural, nutrient-rich soaps and skin health products, will introduce a pair of Artisan Wine Soaps this weekend at the 10th Annual Wabash Valley Wine & Art Festival in historic Palestine, Illinois. As an artisan vendor at the popular Fall festival 45 miles southwest of Terre Haute,Indiana, New Harmony Soap Company will debut a Red Wine Soap and a Honey Wine Soap. The red wine soap is crafted using Reggae Red table wine vinted by Easley Winery of Indianapolis. The honey wine soap uses Camelot Mead Honey Wine vinted by Oliver Winery ...

Honest John Plain Returns

2012-10-04
The boys are, literally, back in town (flying in from Finland, Norway and the US) to appear in a video by renowned film director Tony Klinger (Get Carter, Shout At The Devil, Deep Purple Over Japan, The Kids are Alright - The Who). The A list of rock's greatest are appearing in the promotional video for 'Honest' John Plain's single 'Never Listen To Rumours' are Michael Monroe and Sami Yaffa (Hanoi Rocks/New York Dolls) Martin Chambers (The Pretenders), Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols), Casino Steel (The Boys, Johnny Cash, Carlene Carter), Darrell Bath (The Crybabys and Dogs D'Amour) ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

CMD-OPT model enables the discovery of a potent and selective RIPK2 inhibitor as preclinical candidate for the treatment of acute liver injury

Melatonin receptor 1a alleviates sleep fragmentation-aggravated testicular injury in T2DM by suppression of TAB1/TAK1 complex through FGFR1

Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals Shen-Bai-Jie-Du decoction retards colorectal tumorigenesis by regulating the TMEM131–TNF signaling pathway-mediated differentiation of immunosuppressive dendritic ce

Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B Volume 15, Issue 7 Publishes

New research expands laser technology

Targeted radiation offers promise in patients with metastasized small cell lung cancer to the brain

A high clinically translatable strategy to anti-aging using hyaluronic acid and silk fibroin co-crosslinked hydrogels as dermal regenerative fillers

Mount Sinai researchers uncover differences in how males and females change their mind when reflecting on past mistakes

CTE and normal aging are difficult to distinguish, new study finds

Molecular arms race: How the genome defends itself against internal enemies

Tiny chip speeds up antibody mapping for faster vaccine design

KTU experts reveal why cultural heritage is important for community unity

More misfolded proteins than previously known may contribute to Alzheimer’s and dementia

“Too much going on”: Autistic adults overwhelmed by non-verbal social cues

What’s driving America’s deep freezes in a warming world?

A key role of brain protein in learning and memory is deciphered by scientists

Heart attacks don’t follow a Hollywood script

Erin M. Schuman wins 2026 Nakasone Award for discovery on neural synapse function and change during formation of memories

Global ocean analysis could replace costly in-situ sound speed profiles in seafloor positioning, study finds

Power in numbers: Small group professional coaching reduces rates of physician burnout by nearly 30%

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage: A comprehensive review of CCUS-EOR

New high-temperature stable dispersed particle gel for enhanced profile control in CCUS applications

State gun laws and firearm-related homicides and suicides

Use of tobacco and cannabis following state-level cannabis legalization

Long-term obesity and biological aging in young adults

Eindhoven University of Technology and JMIR Publications announce unlimited open access publishing agreement

Orphan nuclear receptors in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease development

A technological breakthrough for ultra-fast and greener AI

Pusan National University researchers identify key barriers hindering data-driven smart manufacturing adoption

Inking heterometallic nanosheets: A scalable breakthrough for coating, electronics, and electrocatalyst applications

[Press-News.org] Not getting sleepy? Stanford research explains why hypnosis doesn't work for all