Isabel has been using her gift for language to help professionals be more successful for the last nine years. In her private practice, she's helped hundreds of business owners and career professionals to find the right words to understand their situation and enhance their inspiration and performance. Creator of the Inspired Professional™ and Work on Words™ courses, she has a gift for creating simple, structured programs that invite people to grapple with the most profound questions around their lives and work. She currently trains and licenses other consultants and coaches so they can bring these ground-breaking programs to their clientele.

[More]

Full title: What makes your brain suggestible? Hypnotizability is associated with differential brain activity during attention outside hypnosis.

Theoretical models of hypnosis have emphasized the importance of attentional processes in accounting for hypnotic phenomena but their exact nature and brain substrates remain unresolved. Individuals vary in their susceptibility to hypnosis, a variability often attributed to differences in attentional functioning such as greater ability to filter irrelevant information and inhibit prepotent responses. However, behavioral studies of attentional performance outside the hypnotic state have provided conflicting results. We used fMRI to investigate the recruitment of attentional networks during a modified flanker task in High and Low hypnotizable participants. The task was performed in a normal (no hypnotized) state. While behavioral performance did not reliably differ between groups, components of the fronto-parietal executive network implicated in monitoring (anterior cingulate cortex; ACC), adjustment (lateral prefrontal cortex; latPFC), and implementation of attentional control (intraparietal sulcus; IPS) were differently activated depending on the hypnotizability of the subjects: the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) was more recruited, whereas IPS and ACC were less recruited by High susceptible individuals compared to Low. Our results demonstrate that susceptibility to hypnosis is associated with particular executive control capabilities allowing efficient attentional focusing, and point to specific neural substrates in right prefrontal cortex.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: We demonstrated that outside hypnosis, low hypnotizable subjects recruited more parietal cortex and anterior cingulate regions during selective attention conditions suggesting a better detection and implementation of conflict. However, outside hypnosis the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) was more recruited by highly hypnotizable subjects during selective attention conditions suggesting a better control of conflict. Furthermore, in highly hypnotizable subjects this region was more connected to the default mode network suggesting a tight dialogue between internally and externally driven processes that may permit higher flexibility in attention and underlie a greater ability to dissociate. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Neuroimage. 2015 Jun 3;117:367-374. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2015.05.076. Cojan Y(1), Piguet C(2), Vuilleumier P(3). Author information: (1)Department of Neuroscience, University Medical School, University of Geneva, 1 rue Michel Servet, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; Centre for Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: ycojan@gmail.com. (2)Department of Neuroscience, University Medical School, University of Geneva, 1 rue Michel Servet, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; Centre for Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: camille.piguet@unige.ch. (3)Department of Neuroscience, University Medical School, University of Geneva, 1 rue Michel Servet, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; Centre for Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: patrik.vuilleumier@unige.ch.

by Tim Brunson, PhD

All of us have experienced peak times in our lives when we feel extremely motivated, capable, and in the flow. Former University of Chicago psychology department head Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi popularized the idea of a person being fully immersed in what he or she is doing at any given time. He called this an "in the zone" or "flow" state. The question that I would like to address is whether or not we can trigger this feeling at will. Furthermore, I am intrigued by the possibility that we can store and recall energizing mental resources when needed or desired. Think of this as carrying extra batteries for your cell phone. Therefore, if you were to be in the middle of a sports competition, taking a critical exam, or giving a presentation, what if you could simply decide to re-energize your neurophysiology so that you could tackle the task in a peak flow state?

During my training in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) almost two decades ago Clinton Clay, LCSW, and Edna Clay impressed upon me the possibilities of biographical incidents in my past, from which I could visit and retrieve what they called resources. It seemed that by recalling and practically revivicating a memory of a time that I was performing at my best, triggered specific internal representations and neurophysiological states. By associating (i.e. seeing through my own eyes, hearing through my own ears, and realizing the associated physical sensations) into the event, I achieved a deep revivicating feeling that I was indeed there. Using ANNH terminology, it appears that I was activating (i.e. recalling) specific neurophysiological patterns to include causing a specific distribution of energy in my brain and body.

[More]

Hypnosis can create temporary, but highly compelling alterations in belief. As such, it can be used to model many aspects of clinical delusions in the laboratory. This approach allows researchers to recreate features of delusions on demand and examine underlying processes with a high level of experimental control. This paper reviews studies that have used hypnosis to model delusions in this way. First, the paper reviews studies that have focused on reproducing the surface features of delusions, such as their high levels of subjective conviction and strong resistance to counter-evidence. Second, the paper reviews studies that have focused on modelling underlying processes of delusions, including anomalous experiences or cognitive deficits that underpin specific delusional beliefs. Finally, the paper evaluates this body of research as a whole. The paper discusses advantages and limitations of using hypnotic models to study delusions and suggests some directions for future research. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Conscious Cogn. 2015 Jun 6;36:27-43. doi: 10.1016/j.concog.2015.05.015. Connors MH(1). Author information: (1)ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Australia; Department of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: michael.connors@mq.edu.au.