Hypnosis Phenomenology and the Neurobiology of Consciousness
Authors: Rainville P.; Price D.D.
Source: International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, Volume 51, Number 2, April 2003 , pp. 105-129(25)
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Abstract:
Recent developments in the philosophical and neurobiological studies of consciousness provide promising frameworks to investigate the neurobiology of hypnosis. A model of consciousness phenomenology is described to demonstrate that the experiential dimensions characterizing hypnosis (relaxation and mental ease, absorption, orientation and monitoring, and self-agency) reflect basic phenomenal properties of consciousness. Changes in relaxation-mental ease and absorption, produced by standard hypnotic procedures, are further associated with changes in brain activity within structures critically involved in the basic representation of the body-self and the regulation of states of consciousness. The combination of experiential and modern brain imaging methods offers a unique perspective on hypnotic phenomena and provides new observations consistent with the proposition that hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness.Document Type: Research article
DOI: 10.1076/iceh.51.2.105.14613
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