Alcohol increases hypnotic susceptibility

• Published in: Consciousness and cognition Vol. 22; no. 3; pp. 1082 - 1091
• Main Authors: Semmens-Wheeler, Rebecca, Dienes, Zoltán, Duka, Theodora
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01-09-2013; Elsevier; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Alcohol; Alcohol use; Anticipation, Psychological; Attention - drug effects; Attention - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Central Nervous System Depressants - pharmacology; Cognition & reasoning; Cold control theory; Consciousness; Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; Double-Blind Method; Ethanol - pharmacology; Executive Function - drug effects; Executive Function - physiology; Female; Frontal Lobe - physiology; Higher order thought theory; Humans; Hypnosis; Inhibition (Psychology); Male; Medical sciences; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Relaxation. Biofeedback. Hypnosis. Selfregulation. Meditation; Treatments; Young Adult; Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex; Higher order thought theory; Alcohol; Hypnosis; Cold control theory; Human; Alcoholic beverage; Sensitivity; Theory; Central nervous system; Experimental study; Encephalon
• ISSN: 1053-8100; 1090-2376
• DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2013.07.001

•Alcohol rather than placebo increases hypnotic response.•Hypnotic response was predicted by both conscious and unconscious expectancies.•But neither conscious nor unconscious expectancy mediated the effect of alcohol.•The effect of alcohol was also not mediated by a frontal inhibition task.
One approach to hypnosis suggests that for hypnotic experience to occur frontal lobe activity must be attenuated. For example, cold control theory posits that a lack of awareness of intentions is responsible for the experience of involuntariness and/or the subjective reality of hypnotic suggestions. The mid-dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex and the ACC are candidate regions for such awareness. Alcohol impairs frontal lobe executive function. This study examined whether alcohol affects hypnotisability. We administered 0.8mg/kg of alcohol or a placebo to 32 medium susceptible participants. They were subsequently hypnotised and given hypnotic suggestions. All participants believed they had received some alcohol. Participants in the alcohol condition were more susceptible to hypnotic suggestions than participants in the placebo condition. Impaired frontal lobe activity facilitates hypnotic responding, which supports theories postulating that attenuation of executive function facilitates hypnotic response, and contradicts theories postulating that hypnotic response involves enhanced inhibitory, attentional or other executive function.