EEG Alpha Rhythms and Susceptibility to Hypnosis

Abstract

DESPITE a rich literature of anecdotal and clinical material on the relationship of hypnosis to physiological functions, especially to events in the central nervous system, the research findings are highly equivocal. Most relevant studies have been concerned with shifts in brain wave patterns, as measured by the electroencephalogram (EEG). The studies have attempted to identify the underlying processes which accompany the observed or reported events characteristic of passage between waking and hypnotic states of consciousness. With some exceptions, however, most studies have failed to demonstrate EEG correlations of the hypnotic state^1,2. Similarly, most studies of physiological functioning have failed to find clear-cut changes in the autonomic nervous system resulting from “hypnosis per se, that is, without further verbal instructions”³.