NYmag.com har skrevet en sej artikel om hvordan hjerneforskere er begyndt at bruge hjerneskanninger til at dokumentere effekten af hypnose:
“A landmark study in the prestigious journal Science in the late 1990s, led by Pierre Rainville of the University of Montreal, described a study in which hypnotized people briefly placed their left hand in either painfully hot water, heated to 116 degrees Fahrenheit, or room-temperature water. […] The results were clear: Those who had been told that the pain would be less intense showed less activity in their brains — specifically, in the anterior cingulate cortex, which is associated with pain processing.”
Den går videre ned i en håndfuld andre eksempler hvor man har kunnet måle en forandring på krop og hjerne, som ikke ordinært ville være mulig.
“But the reason why this ever works, for anyone, is still not clear. Some researchers argue that hypnosis may help us tap into “the autonomic nervous system to influence physical systems that aren’t usually under voluntary control”.”
