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Acute assessment of subjective appetite and implicated hormones after a hypnosis-induced hallucinated meal: a randomized cross-over pilot trial

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Abstract

The use of hypnosis can generate hallucinatory phenomena, which ranged from vivid/auditory imagery to fully developed “hallucinations” in selected people. The aim of this pilot trial was investigating the acute effects of a hypnosis-induced hallucinated breakfast (HB) compared to those of a real breakfast (RB) on subjective appetite and appetite-regulating hormones in highly hypnotizable individuals. Eight healthy post-menopausal women were recruited to consume two meals: the HB and the RB in a randomized crossover design. Participants underwent appetite sensations measurements (before meal and each 30-min until 270-min) and blood sample collection (at 0, 20, 60, 90, 180-min). A 3-day food-record was filled after each meal. The adjusted repeated measures ANCOVA did not show any meal×time interactions on subjective appetite postprandially. As expected, significantly higher glucose (p < 0.001), insulin (p < 0.001), and lower free fatty acid (p < 0.001) concentrations were found after the RB, but not following HB. Furthermore, RB significantly increased postprandial levels of glucagon-like-peptide-1 and peptide-YY at 20, 60, 90 and 180-min, whereas acylated-ghrelin and leptin levels did not differ. Postprandial neuropeptide-Y and orexin-A values significantly increased at different time-points after RB, but not following HB, while α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone levels enhanced after HB only. Energy intakes were significantly lower after HB on the test-day only (HB = 1146.6 ± 343.8 vs RB = 1634.7 ± 274.2 kcal/d; p = 0.003). Appetite sensation might be modulated by fully developed meal “hallucination” induced by hypnosis, likely affecting brain-peptides implicated in the appetite regulation. However, further studies are needed to verify these results obtained in a highly selected group of individuals. NCT03934580.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge Emanuele Triberti for his help in running the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Sciences, University of Turin, c.so AM Dogliotti 14, 10126, Turin, Italy

    Iolanda Cioffi, Roberto Gambino, Valentina Ponzo, Marianna Pellegrini, Ezio Ghigo & Simona Bo

  2. Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University Hospital, Naples, Italy

    Iolanda Cioffi, Franco Contaldo & Fabrizio Pasanisi

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Turin, Turin, Italy

    Rosalba Rosato

  4. Unit of Internal Medicine, Hospital of Turin, Città della Salute e della Scienza, Turin, Italy

    Bice Properzi

  5. Obstetric Department, Hospital of Ciriè, Turin, Italy

    Giuseppe Regaldo

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  1. Iolanda Cioffi
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Contributions

I.C. and S.B. designed research; R.G., B.P., V.P. and I.C. carried out the research; R.G. analyzed blood sample, R.R. performed statistical analysis; and I.C. and S.B. wrote the paper. F.C., F.P., M.P. and E.G. revised the paper and interpreted the results. I.C. and S.B. had primary responsibility for final content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Simona Bo.

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“All procedures performed in the study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee (Ethical Committee of Turin University, reference number:181321) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.”

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Cioffi, I., Gambino, R., Rosato, R. et al. Acute assessment of subjective appetite and implicated hormones after a hypnosis-induced hallucinated meal: a randomized cross-over pilot trial. Rev Endocr Metab Disord 21, 411–420 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11154-020-09559-4

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