Is hypnotic state real?
Until recently, there has been no reliable way of determining whether a person is actually hypnotized or simply faking or simulating hypnosis. By studying so-called trance stare, a Swedish-Finnish research team has now provided strong evidence that the hypnotic state genuinely exists.
Trance stare reveals hypnotism. Photo: diabolospinner / Flickr.com (Creative Commons).
Hypnosis has had a long and controversial history in psychology, psychiatry and neurology. For the past hundred years, researchers have debated whether or not hypnosis really involves an altered mental state or not, and many researchers have considered such a state a myth altogether.
Now, an international team of researchers from University of Skövde in Sweden and two Finnish universities, University of Turku and Aalto University School of Science has studied the so-called trance stare, a glazed look in the eyes that has often been associated with hypnosis in pop culture but rarely studied scientifically.
The study focused on a healthy adult, who is known to be highly susceptible to hypnosis, and is known to respond immediately to hypnotic suggestion. Her eye movements during hypnotic and waking state were measured with a special eye tracker.
When she entered hypnosis, her eyes became glazed and her blinking date was significantly reduced. Even more importantly, hypnosis induced dramatic reduction in eye movements that are beyond volitional control in healthy adults.
None of thirty tested control subjects could mimic these changes in eye movement patterns volitionally, which indicates that hypnosis does indeed involve an altered mental state, which is associated with cognitive and motor changes far beyond our volitional control.
Have a look at the original research article in PLoS ONE journal.
Elisa Lautala works as web editor for University of Helsinki's Faculty of Science. Elisa likes all kinds of cultural events, good books, warm weather, and aqua-jogging.