scholarly journals Functional Changes in Brain Activity Using Hypnosis: A Systematic Review

2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 108
Author(s):  
Thomas Gerhard Wolf ◽  
Karin Anna Faerber ◽  
Christian Rummel ◽  
Ulrike Halsband ◽  
Guglielmo Campus

Hypnosis has proven a powerful method in indications such as pain control and anxiety reduction. As recently discussed, it has been yielding increased attention from medical/dental perspectives. This systematic review (PROSPERO-registration-ID-CRD42021259187) aimed to critically evaluate and discuss functional changes in brain activity using hypnosis by means of different imaging techniques. Randomized controlled trials, cohort, comparative, cross-sectional, evaluation and validation studies from three databases—Cochrane, Embase and Medline via PubMed from January 1979 to August 2021—were reviewed using an ad hoc prepared search string and following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. A total of 10404 articles were identified, 1194 duplicates were removed and 9190 papers were discarded after consulting article titles/abstracts. Ultimately, 20 papers were assessed for eligibility, and 20 papers were included after a hand search (ntotal = 40). Despite a broad heterogenicity of included studies, evidence of functional changes in brain activity using hypnosis was identified. Electromyography (EMG) startle amplitudes result in greater activity in the frontal brain area; amplitudes using Somatosensory Event-Related Potentials (SERPs) showed similar results. Electroencephalography (EEG) oscillations of θ activity are positively associated with response to hypnosis. EEG results showed greater amplitudes for highly hypnotizable subjects over the left hemisphere. Less activity during hypnosis was observed in the insula and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC).

2008 ◽  
Vol 99 (5) ◽  
pp. 2220-2231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Weiss ◽  
Wolfram Hesse ◽  
Mihaela Ungureanu ◽  
Holger Hecht ◽  
Lutz Leistritz ◽  
...  

Several imaging techniques have identified different brain areas involved in the processing of noxious stimulation and thus in the constitution of pain. However, only little is known how these brain areas communicate with one another after activation by stimulus processing and which areas directionally affect or modulate the activity of succeeding areas. One measure for the analysis of such interactions is represented by the Granger Causality Index (GCI). In applying time-varying bivariate and partial variants of this concept (tvGCI), the aim of the present study was to investigate the interaction of neural activities between a set of scalp electrodes that best represent the brain electrical neural activity of major cortical areas involved in the processing of noxious laser-heat stimuli and their variation in time. Bivariate and partial tvGCIs were calculated within four different intervals of laser-evoked event-related potentials (LEPs) including a baseline period prior to stimulus application and three intervals immediately following stimulus application, i.e., between 170 and 200 ms (at the N2 component), between 260 and 320 ms (P2 component), and between 320 and 400 ms (P3 component of LEPs). Results show some similarities, but also some striking differences between bivariate and partial tvGCIs. These differences might be explained by the nature of bivariate and partial tvGCIs. However, both tvGCI approaches revealed a directed interaction between medial and lateral electrodes of the centroparietal region. This result was interpreted as a directed interaction between the anterior cingulate cortex and the secondary somatosensory cortex and the insula, structures that are significantly involved in the constitution of pain.


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (03) ◽  
pp. 192-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Galushko ◽  
O. Graf ◽  
W. Gaebel ◽  
J. Zielasek

Summary Background: To clarify the role of cognitive and neurobiologic factors in the aetiopathogenesis of specific phobia, a systematic review of studies investigating these factors was performed. MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central were searched up to March 23, 2012. Method: Thirty-four studies were analyzed in detail for this systematic review. Results: Persons with specific phobia differed from healthy persons in their reaction to the exposure to phobia-related stimuli due to biased attentional, memory and interpretational processes. Longer reaction times, increased recall and recognition performances for threat-related information, and a tendency to misinterpret ambiguous stimuli were found in persons with specific phobia. Regarding brain activity measures as indicators of neurobiologic factors following exposure to fear-related stimuli, amygdala, anterior cingulated cortex, insula, fusiform gyrus, and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex activities were most commonly reported to be increased in persons with specific phobia. Other studies revealed increased amplitudes of event-related potentials (N100, P300, and late positive potentials) in persons with specific phobia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 731
Author(s):  
Anna Soiné ◽  
Alessandra Natascha Flöck ◽  
Peter Walla

It remains an unsolved conundrum how social presence affects the neural processes involved in adaptive situation-specific decision-making mechanisms. To investigate this question, brain potential changes via electroencephalography (EEG) and skin conductance responses (SCR) were taken within this study, while participants were exposed to pre-rated pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant pictures, which they had to rate in terms of their perceived arousal. Crucially, they had to—in respective runs—do this alone and in the presence of a significant other. Contrasting respective event-related potentials (ERPs) revealed significantly more negative going potentials peaking at 708 ms post stimulus onset at mid-frontal electrode locations (around FPz and AFz), when participants were exposed to neutral pictures while in the presence of a significant other. SCR results demonstrate higher states of arousal in the presence of a significant other regardless of picture emotion category. Self-reported arousal turned out to be highest in response to neutral pictures within the significant other condition, whereas in the alone condition in response to the pleasant pictures. In light of existing literature on social aspects and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), the ERP finding in the significant other condition, while rating emotionally neutral pictures, is interpreted as reflecting heightened ACC activation, which is supported by electrode locations showing significant brain activity differences as well as by source localization results. Neutral pictures are inherently ambiguous, and the current results indicate the presence of another person to change the way one processes, perceives, and acts on them. This is in support for theories proposing the ACC to be part of a larger signal-specification network that gauges relevant stimuli for adequate execution of control.


2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1109-1128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luis Carretié ◽  
Manuel Martín-Loeches ◽  
José Antonio Hinojosa ◽  
Francisco Mercado

Several studies on hemodynamic brain activity indicate that emotional visual stimuli elicit greater activation than neutral stimuli in attention-related areas such as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the visual association cortex (VAC). In order to explore the temporo-spatial characteristics of the interaction between attention and emotion, two processes characterized by involving short and rapid phases, event-related potentials (ERPs) were measured in 29 subjects using a 60-electrode array and the LORETA source localization software. A cue/target paradigm was employed in order to investigate both expectancy-related and input processing related attention. Four categories of stimuli were presented to subjects: positive arousing, negative arousing, relaxing, and neutral. Three attention-related components were finally analyzed: N280pre (from pretarget ERPs), P200post and P340post (both from posttarget ERPs). N280pre had a prefrontal focus (ACC and/or medial prefrontal cortex) and presented significantly lower amplitudes in response to cues announcing negative targets. This result suggests a greater capacity of nonaversive stimuli to generate expectancy-related attention. P200post and P340post were both elicited in the VAC, and showed their highest amplitudes in response to negative- and to positive-arousing stimuli, respectively. The origin of P200post appears to be located dorsally with respect to the clear ventral-stream origin of P340post. The conjunction of temporal and spatial characteristics of P200post and P340post leads to the deduction that input processing-related attention associated with emotional visual stimulation involves an initial, rapid, and brief ‘early’ attentional response oriented to rapid motor action, being more prominent towards negative stimulation. This is followed by a slower but longer ‘late’ attentional response oriented to deeper processing, elicited to a greater extent by appetitive stimulation.


Author(s):  
Monika Equit ◽  
Justine Niemczyk ◽  
Anna Kluth ◽  
Carla Thomas ◽  
Mathias Rubly ◽  
...  

Abstract. Objective: Fecal incontinence and constipation are common disorders in childhood. The enteric nervous system and the central nervous system are highly interactive along the brain-gut axis. The interaction is mainly afferent. These afferent pathways include centers that are involved in the central nervous processing of emotions as the mid/posterior insula and the anterior cingulate cortex. A previous study revealed altered processing of emotions in children with fecal incontinence. The present study replicates these results. Methods: In order to analyze the processing of emotions, we compared the event-related potentials of 25 children with fecal incontinence and constipation to those of 15 control children during the presentation of positive, negative, and neutral pictures. Results: Children with fecal incontinence and constipation showed altered processing of emotions, especially in the parietal and central cortical regions. Conclusions: The main study results of the previous study were replicated, increasing the certainty and validity of the findings.


Author(s):  
Justine Niemczyk ◽  
Monika Equit ◽  
Katja Rieck ◽  
Mathias Rubly ◽  
Catharina Wagner ◽  
...  

Abstract. Objective: Daytime urinary incontinence (DUI) is common in childhood. The aim of the study was to neurophysiologically analyse the central emotion processing in children with DUI. Method: In 20 children with DUI (mean age 8.1 years, 55 % male) and 20 controls (mean age 9.1 years, 75 % male) visual event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded after presenting emotionally valent (80 neutral, 40 positive, and 40 negative) pictures from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) as an oddball-paradigm. All children received a full organic and psychiatric assessment. Results: Children with DUI did not differ significantly from controls regarding responses to emotional pictures in the frontal, central, and parietal regions and in the time intervals 250–450 ms, 450–650 ms, and 650–850 ms after stimulus onset. The patient group had more psychological symptoms and psychiatric comorbidities than the control group. Conclusions: EEG responses to emotional stimuli are not altered in children with DUI. Central emotion processing does not play a major role in DUI. Further research, including a larger sample size, a more homogeneous patient group (regarding subtype of DUI) or brain imaging techniques, could reveal more about the central processing in DUI.


2012 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 396-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valia Rodríguez ◽  
Russell Thompson ◽  
Mark Stokes ◽  
Matthew Brett ◽  
Indira Alvarez ◽  
...  

In this study, we explored the neural correlates of perceptual awareness during a masked face detection task. To assess awareness more precisely than in previous studies, participants employed a 4-point scale to rate subjective visibility. An event-related fMRI and a high-density ERP study were carried out. Imaging data showed that conscious face detection was linked to activation of fusiform and occipital face areas. Frontal and parietal regions, including the pre-SMA, inferior frontal sulcus, anterior insula/frontal operculum, and intraparietal sulcus, also responded strongly when faces were consciously perceived. In contrast, no brain area showed face-selective activity when participants reported no impression of a face. ERP results showed that conscious face detection was associated with enhanced N170 and also with the presence of a second negativity around 300 msec and a slow positivity around 415 msec. Again, face-related activity was absent when faces were not consciously perceived. We suggest that, under conditions of backward masking, ventral stream and fronto-parietal regions show similar, strong links of face-related activity to conscious perception and stress the importance of a detailed assessment of awareness to examine activity related to unseen stimulus events.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Austin J. Gallyer ◽  
Sean P. Dougherty ◽  
Kreshnik Burani ◽  
Brian J. Albanese ◽  
Thomas E. Joiner ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saugat Bhattacharyya ◽  
Davide Valeriani ◽  
Caterina Cinel ◽  
Luca Citi ◽  
Riccardo Poli

AbstractIn this paper we present, and test in two realistic environments, collaborative Brain-Computer Interfaces (cBCIs) that can significantly increase both the speed and the accuracy of perceptual group decision-making. The key distinguishing features of this work are: (1) our cBCIs combine behavioural, physiological and neural data in such a way as to be able to provide a group decision at any time after the quickest team member casts their vote, but the quality of a cBCI-assisted decision improves monotonically the longer the group decision can wait; (2) we apply our cBCIs to two realistic scenarios of military relevance (patrolling a dark corridor and manning an outpost at night where users need to identify any unidentified characters that appear) in which decisions are based on information conveyed through video feeds; and (3) our cBCIs exploit Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) elicited in brain activity by the appearance of potential threats but, uniquely, the appearance time is estimated automatically by the system (rather than being unrealistically provided to it). As a result of these elements, in the two test environments, groups assisted by our cBCIs make both more accurate and faster decisions than when individual decisions are integrated in more traditional manners.


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