Abstract:
Hypnosis is a condition of modified consciousness (monoideism) resulting
from a mental representation able to produce psychological and physical effects.
The general belief is that hypnosis is conscious and voluntary, but the
practical demonstration of this hypothesis is far to be demonstrated. Twenty
healthy highly hypnotizable volunteers were studied during through functional
magnetic resonance imaging during a task. The task was necessary because
functional magnetic resonance imaging gives no interesting results in neutral
hypnosis. During the hypnotic task, the prefrontal dorso-lateral cortex, genual
cortex, dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, and orbital portion of the inferior frontal
convolution (i.e. the Broadmann areas 9, 25, 32 and 47) were activated. Such
areas are associated to egoic consciousness and voluntary processes. The results
show that the hypothesis that hypnosis is conscious and voluntary is correct.
