Neural mechanisms of hypnosis and meditation

Publication date: Available online 10 November 2015 Source:Journal of Physiology-Paris Author(s): Giuseppe De Benedittis Hypnosis has been an elusive concept for science for a long time. How-ever, the explosive advances in neuroscience in the last few decades have provided a ”bridge of understanding” between classical neurophysiological studies and psychophysiological studies. These studies have shed new light on the neural basis of the hypnotic experience. Furthermore, an ambitious new area of research is focusing on mapping the core processes of psychotherapy and the neurobiology/ underlying them. Hypnosis research offers powerful techniques to isolate psychological processes in ways that allow their neural bases to be mapped. The Hypnotic Brain can serve as a way to tap neurocognitive questions and our cognitive assays can in turn shed new light on the neural bases of hypnosis. This cross-talk should enhance research and clinical applications. An increasing body of evidence provides insight in the neural mechanisms of the Meditative Brain. Discrete meditative styles are likely to target different neurodynamic patterns. Recent findings emphasize increased attentional resources activating the attentional and salience networks with coherent perception. Cognitive and emotional equanimity gives rise to an eudaimonic state, made of calm, resilience and stability, readines to express compassion and empathy, a main goal of Buddhist practices. Structural changes in gray m...
Source: Journal of Physiology Paris - Category: Physiology Source Type: research