The International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis
Volume 58, Number 3 - July 2010 - English

Motion in response to the hypnotic suggestion of arm rigidity: A window on underlying mechanisms
VICTORIA GALEA, ERIK WOODY, HENRY SZECHTMAN, AND MICHAEL R. PIERRYNOWSKI

Abstract: Among hypnotized subjects passing a challenge suggestion of arm rigidity, how might patterns of motor activity (strategies) contribute to the illusion that the elbow cannot be bent? Kinematic analyses of upper limb and trunk were performed. Nonhypnotized subjects carefully enacted a set of prescribed strategies typifying responses possibly adopted by a hypnotized subject. Profile analysis showed striking heterogeneity of response in hypnotic subjects. Half of participants showed no perceivable strategy consistent with the hypothesis that subjects hallucinate the suggestion and so do not engage the motor periphery. Equally common were subtle oscillations or trembling of the arm implying that motion resembling difficulty in bending was initiated. This can be misperceived as unintentional and thus evidence of inability to bend. The lack of a motor strategy is more consistent with dissociated-control theory, whereas the trembling response is more consistent with social-cognitive and dissociated-experience theories.

Extreme Cognitive Interviewing: A Blueprint for False Memories Through Imagination Inflation
WAYNE G. WHITEHOUSE, EMILY CAROTA ORNE, AND DAVID F. DINGES

Abstract: This article examines a 3-decades-old unsolved homicide, where the victim’s 4-year-and-9-month-old daughter was deemed the only eyewitness (State of Nebraska v. Donald J. Sykora, 2008).  The authors critique the investigative methods employed over 33 years, with particular emphasis on the final “extreme” cognitive interview of the daughter, which persisted for days and incorporated various imaginative techniques.  Adverse circumstances pervade the case:  (a) the young age of the presumed witness when the murder occurred; (b) the vulnerability of memory to suggestion and revision over time; (c) the possible earlier use of hypnosis to refresh recall; and (d) implementing a poorly documented, 31-hour cognitive interview that encouraged repetition and fantasy. In this case, the prolonged cognitive interview is perilously hypnotic-like, yielding evidence that must be regarded as a product of imagination inflation—defective for sustaining veridical testimony.

Virtual reality hypnosis for pain associated with recovery from physical trauma
DAVID R. PATTERSON, MARK P. JENSEN, SHELLEY WIECHMAN ASKAY, AND SAM R. SHARAR

Abstract: Pain following traumatic injuries is common, can impair injury recovery, and is often inadequately treated. In particular, the role of adjunctive nonpharmacologic analgesic techniques is unclear. The authors report a randomized, controlled study of 21 hospitalized trauma patients to assess the analgesic efficacy of virtual reality hypnosis (VRH)—hypnotic induction and analgesic suggestion delivered by customized virtual reality (VR) hardware/software. Subjective pain ratings were obtained immediately and 8 hours after VRH (used as an adjunct to standard analgesic care) and compared to both adjunctive VR without hypnosis and standard care alone. VRH patients reported less pain intensity and less pain unpleasantness compared to control groups. These preliminary findings suggest that VRH analgesia is a novel technology worthy of further study, both to improve pain management and to increase availability of hypnotic analgesia to populations without access to therapist-provided hypnosis and suggestion.

Association Between Hypnotizability and the Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT) Polymorphism
ANNA SZEKELY, REKA KOVACS-NAGY, ÉVA I. BÁNYAI,1 ANNA C. GŐSI-GREGUSS, KATALIN VARGA, ZSUZSA HALMAI, ZSOLT RONAI, AND MARIA SASVARI-SZEKELY

Abstract: Previous studies implicate involvement of dopaminergic systems in hypnotizability and report association with the COMT Val158Met single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP, rs4680) demonstrating the Val/Met heterozygotes as the most hypnotizable group using the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale. This study replicates that association using an independent sample of 127 healthy Hungarian young adults and the Waterloo-Stanford Group C Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility. Significant association (p = .016) was found between the COMT genotypes and hypnotizability, with a clear additive effect of the Val allele: hypnotizability scores were highest in Val/Val (5.9), intermediate in Val/Met (4.7), and lowest in Met/Met (4.1). Differences between these results and those of previous studies support recent findings suggesting an inverted-U-shaped relation between dopamine level in the prefrontal cortex and cognitive functioning. The present study replicates association of COMT Val158Met SNP and hypnotizability and stresses the importance of mediating factors, such as group vs. individual inductions.

A New Hypnotic Technique for Treating Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Prospective Open Study
EITAN G. ABRAMOWITZ AND PESACH LICHTENBERG

Abstract: Many combat veterans with PTSD have an olfactory component to their traumatic memories that might be utilized by a technique called hypnotherapeutic olfactory conditioning (HOC). Thirty-six outpatients with chronic PTSD featuring resistant olfactory-induced flashbacks, were treated with 6 1.5-hour sessions using hypnosis. The authors used the revised Impact of Events Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and Dissociative Experiences Scale as outcome measures. Significant reductions in symptomatology were recorded by the end of the 6-week treatment period for the IES-R, as well as for the Beck Depression Inventory  and the Dissociative Experiences Scale; 21 (58%) of the subjects responded to treatment by a reduction of 50% or more on the IES-R. Improvement was maintained at 6-month and 1-year follow-ups. Use of medication was curtailed. HOC shows potential for providing benefit to individuals suffering from PTSD with olfactory components.

Hypnotizability-related Effects of Vestibular Impairment on Posture and Locomotion
MANUEL MENZOCCHI, GIULIA PAOLETTI, GIANCARLO CARLI, ELIANA SCATTINA, DIEGO MANZONI, AND ENRICA LAURA SANTARCANGELO

Abstract: Body sway and locomotion are differentially modulated in high- (highs) and low- (lows) hypnotizable subjects undergoing alteration of visual and neck/leg proprioceptive inputs. The study’s aim was to investigate whether partial impairment of vestibular information due to backward head extension affects postural (Study 1) and locomotor behavior (Study 2) differentially in highs and lows. Results showed that, at variance with the visual and proprioceptive modalities, vestibular inactivation did not induce major differences between the 2 groups, with the exception of improvement in walking straight across consecutive trials, which was observed only in highs. The paper presents an overview of the structures and mechanisms possibly involved in the observed hypnotizability-related differences in motor control and suggests that hypnotic susceptibility might be a relevant factor in neuro-rehabilitative treatments because it accounts for part of the variability in the sensory-motor self.

Preferences for Hypnotic Imagery for Hot Flash Reduction: A Brief Communication
GARY ELKINS, JOEL MARCUS, JENNIFER BUNN, MICHELLE PERFECT, LYNN PALAMARA, VERED STEARNS, AND JACQUELINE DOVE

Abstract: The purpose of this brief report is to identify imagery preferences of women receiving hypnotherapy to alleviate hot flashes. As part of a larger study, 51 breast cancer survivors were asked to identify their own personal preferences for imagery for reducing hot flashes. Most of the participants identified personal imagery associated with coolness; none of the participants selected imagery for warmth or heat. The most widely used was imagery involving water associated with coolness (27.0%). It is recommended that clinicians using hypnosis for reduction of hot flashes attend to patients’ preferences as specific imagery for coolness as imagery for coolness versus warmth may moderate the effectiveness of hypnosis for hot flashes.