Hypnosis: Physiological, Pharmacological Reality
GEORGE A. ULETT M.D., PH.D.1,
SEVKET AKPINAR M.D.2, , and
TURAN M. ITIL M.D.3
1 Chairman and Professor, Missouri Institute of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia, 5400 Arsenal St., St. Louis, Mo. 63139 and Director, Missouri Division of Mental Health
2 Postdoctoral Fellow in Psychiatry, Missouri Institute of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia, 5400 Arsenal St., St. Louis, Mo. 63139
3 Professor and Associate Chairman for Research, Missouri Institute of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia, 5400 Arsenal St., St. Louis, Mo. 63139
Normal volunteers were successfully hypnotized using a videotape induction technique. EEG measurements were made before trance induction, during induction, and during objective testing of the depth of hypnosis. Electronic analysis of EEG records revealed a significant correlation between hypnotizability and certain EEG patterns, including the presence of very fast activity. During the trance-induction and trance-testing periods, good hypnotic subjects showed a significant decrease in slow activity and an increase in alpha and beta waves. In later experiments, such psychotropic drugs as LSD-25 and dextroamphetamine were found to alter hypnotizability.
