Scientists have found the answer to the question why some people cannot be hypnotized.
The brain of people who cannot be hypnotized differs from the brain of those people who easily fall into a trance.
This conclusion was reached by researchers from the School of Medicine at Stanford University. Using MRI, they studied activity in three different functional brain systems in 12 adult volunteers who were easily hypnotized and in 12 others who did not respond to it.
These brain systems were: the default system, used when the brain is inactive, the executive system involved in decision-making, and the significance system, which gives the brain the ability to highlight the main thing.
Brain scans showed that in both groups the default system was active, but in people who were easily hypnosis, there was a lot of activity in the executive system and the brain’s significance system.
Hypnosis, successfully used when the brain needs help in controlling sensation and behavior, can be used, according to the authors of the study, to treat pain, phobias, stress and anxiety.
"Until now, no one has identified the feature of the brain that makes it vulnerable to hypnosis, and we are on the verge of discovering it," said senior author of the study, Dr. David Spiegel, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.
Such a discovery will shed light on how hypnosis works and how it can be most effectively used to treat patients.
According to the researchers, about 25% of people cannot be hypnotized.
