The Neurological Underpinnings of Hypnosis and its Clinical Applications

The brain is so complex that it is almost impossible to select one variable as the reason for a specific observation. This paper will discuss the neurological basis of hypnosis, and how hypnosis has made unique contributions to the refinement and development of cognitive neuroscience. In addition, hypnosis has been proven to cure many psychological and neurologically based diseases. Due to in-depth study of the neurological underpinnings of hypnosis, much advancement has been made in elucidating the relationship between the complex neural circuitry of the brain, its direct correlation to consciousness, and both the efferent and afferent neurological systems. New neuroimaging techniques, such as fMRI and other brain scanning methods such as electroencephalography (EEG) and positron emission tomography (PET), have made it possible to localize task related regionally specific brain activity and cognitive mental state, which allows researchers to scientifically examine and construe the many obscure theories surrounding the phenomenon of hypnosis