Brain mechanisms of hypnotic paralysis : Neurophilosophy

According to a new study of the neural mechanisms of hypnosis-induced paralysis, Braid's definition was remarkably accurate. The study, published in the journal Neuron, demonstrates that hypnosis does indeed lead to increased activity in areas of the brain involved in attention, as well as in other areas involved in mental imagery and self-awareness. Hypnosis can therefore exert control over bodily movements by enhancing mental representations of the self (or self-imagery) and focusing attention on them. 

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Because of the way in which the experiment was designed, the fMRI data allowed the researchers to test two hypotheses. First, they could test whether hypnotic suggestion of paralysis suppressed the intention to move, by analyzing brain activity during the preparatory interval, or whether it inhibited the movements themselves. Second, they could determine whether hypnotic paralysis involves the same inhibitory neural mechanisms as voluntary suppression of movement, by comparing the brain activity measured during the "go" and "no go" conditions under hypnosis and in the control trials in which participants feigned paralysis.

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Because of the way in which the experiment was designed, the fMRI data allowed the researchers to test two hypotheses. First, they could test whether hypnotic suggestion of paralysis suppressed the intention to move, by analyzing brain activity during the preparatory interval, or whether it inhibited the movements themselves. Second, they could determine whether hypnotic paralysis involves the same inhibitory neural mechanisms as voluntary suppression of movement, by comparing the brain activity measured during the "go" and "no go" conditions under hypnosis and in the control trials in which participants feigned paralysis.

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These findings suggest that hypnosis induces the control of movements by means of internal representations, which can be generated because of enhanced self imagery.

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