Altered states of consciousness and hypnosis in the twenty-first century

American Journal of Clinical Hypnosis,  Jul 2005  by Wickramsekera, Ian II

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Gruzelier, J. (2005). Altered states of consciousness and hypnosis in the twenty-first century. Contemporary Hypnosis, 22(2), 1-7. In relation to a paper by Kallio and Revonsuo (2003), Gruzelier notes that the study of consciousness, unconscious processing, and altered state of consciousness are central issues in neuroscience, heralding fresh approaches to the neuroscientific understanding of hypnosis.

These include efforts to bring together new neurophysiological methods with phenomenological report. He believes that alterations during hypnosis of anterior brain processes (including the anterior cingulate and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) are particularly productive areas of research. The lack of engagement with neuroscientific research by theorists of a sociocognitive persuasion is noted, with examples then provided from research on attention and relaxation. Unification of the field awaits active collaboration between scientists with neurophysiological and with social orientations. Address for reprints: John Gruzelier, Ph.D., Division of Neuroscience & Psychological Medicine, Imperial College London, St. Dunstan's Road, London, W6 8RP, United Kingdom. E-mail: j.gruzelier@imperial.ac.uk

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