Hypnosis has measurable effects on the brain, says Zurich study

According to the University of Zurich, hypnosis has measurable effects on the brain Keystone-SDA

Three studies have shown that the activity of certain brain networks changes under hypnosis. The findings were announced by the University of Zurich on Tuesday.

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Scientifically speaking, hypnosis is still largely a black box, wrote the University of Zurich (UZH) in a press release on Tuesday. However, studies by researchers at UZH now show that hypnosis actually changes something in the brain.

To demonstrate this, the neuroscientists at the UZH conducted studies using various imaging techniques. Each time, they selected 50 healthy people as test subjects. They were first put into a light state of hypnosis and then into a very deep state of hypnosis using the same spoken text.

The studies found hypnosis leads to changes in certain areas of the brain that are important for attention and body perception. According to UZH, the corresponding areas were less active or their ability to connect was reduced. This could therefore mean that hypnosis reduced the subjects’ awareness of the body. At the same time, theta waves were increased, which are a sign of sleepiness and deep relaxation.

The researchers also observed significant neurochemical changes. A neurochemical modulator called myo-inositol was released significantly more during deep hypnosis. According to the researchers, this could be interpreted as reduced brain activity.

According to the researchers, further studies are needed to understand how hypnosis works.

Adapted from German by DeepL/jdp

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