How Can Brain Activity and Hypnosis Inform Each Other?

Applying P. Teitelbaum's conception of the method of physiological psychology as interlocking stages of analysis and synthesis, the authors examine how studies of brain function can advance the understanding of hypnosis as a psychological process. They consider the exploration of animal analogues of human hypnosis, the study of brain injury in humans as a window on mechanisms underlying hypnosis, the distinct questions that brain-imaging studies of hypnosis can address, and the potential for comparative and developmental approaches to hypnosis as close allies to psychophysiological approaches. They conclude both that hypnosis is a powerful technique for studying the brain mechanisms of conscious experience and that underlying brain mechanisms may shed new light on longstanding theoretical debates about hypnosis.