英国广播公司（BBC）2009年11月16日报道。
hypnosis has ‘real’ brain effect
Hypnosis can be used for overcoming anxiety and addiction
Hypnosis has a "very real" effect that can be picked up on brain scans, say Hull University researchers.
An imaging study of hypnotised participants showed decreased activity in the parts of the brain linked with daydreaming or letting the mind wander.
The same brain patterns were absent in people who had the tests but who were not susceptible to being hypnotised.
One psychologist said the study backed the theory that hypnosis "primes" the brain to be open to suggestion.
Hypnosis is increasingly being used to help people stop smoking or lose weight and advisers recently recommended its use on the NHS to treat irritable bowel syndrome.
It is not the first time researchers have tried to use imaging studies to monitor brain activity in people under hypnosis.
But the Hull team said these had been done while people had been asked to carry out tasks, so it was not clear whether the changes in the brain were due to the act of doing the task or an effect of hypnosis.
In the latest study, the team first tested how people responded to hypnosis and selected 10 individuals who were "highly suggestible" and seven people who did not really respond to the technique other than becoming more relaxed.
The participants were asked to do a task under hypnosis, such as listening to non-existent music, but unknown to them the brain activity was being monitored in the rest periods in between tasks, the team reported in the journal Consciousness and Cognition.
Default mode
In the "highly suggestible" group there was decreased activity in the part of the brain involved in daydreaming or letting the mind wander – also known as the "default mode" network.
One suggestion of how hypnosis works, supported by the results, is that shutting off this activity leaves the brain free to concentrate on other tasks.
Study leader Dr William McGeown, a lecturer in the department of psychology, said the results were unequivocal because they only occurred in the highly suggestible subjects.
"This shows that the changes were due to hypnosis and not just simple relaxation. "Our study shows hypnosis is real."
Dr Michael Heap, a clinical forensic psychologist based in Sheffield, said the experiment was unique in showing brain patterns supporting the theory that hypnosis works by "priming" the subject to respond more effectively to suggestions.
"Importantly the data confirm that relaxation is not a critical factor.
"The limited data from this experiment suggest that this pattern of activity then dissipates (at least to some extent) once the subjects start to engage in the suggestions that follow."
But he said the small study, which needed repeating in other populations, did not prove that people being hypnotised were in an actual "trance".
This shows that the changes were due to hypnosis and not just simple relaxation 
Dr William McGeown, study leader
转发新华网译文：
长期以来，很多人对催眠疗法的可靠性以及催眠状态是否真实存在抱有怀疑。最新研究显示，催眠确实影响大脑活动，催眠状态确实存在。
催眠状态
英国赫尔大学心理学系研究人员威廉·麦克格温运用大脑活动成像技术研究催眠现象，试图证实人类大脑在催眠状态下的活动变化由催眠引起。
研究人员首先测试实验对象对催眠的反应，要求处于催眠状态下的实验对象完成某项任务，例如听一段不存在的音乐，看一只不存在的小猫。根据实验对象对任务指令的反应，研究人员从中选出10名高度易受影响者和7名不易受影响者。不易受影响者对催眠中听到的命令没有反应，只是进入放松状态。
研究人员用功能性核磁共振成像技术（MRI）观察实验对象大脑活动情况图像。结果显示，只有高度易受催眠影响的实验对象前脑活动有变化，不易受影响的实验对象大脑相应区域没有脑部活动变化。
英国广播公司（BBC）11月16日援引麦克格温的话报道，研究结果明确显示，“这些变化由催眠引起，而不是简单的放松所致”。
接受暗示
研究小组由赫尔大学心理学系和临床神经系统学中心研究员组成，参与者包括世界著名催眠学专家兰米尔·基尔舍、脑部成像技术专家和建议暗示专家等。
在以往催眠研究中，研究人员通常要求实验对象在催眠状态下完成某项任务，观察这一过程中实验对象大脑活动情况。质疑者认为，这种观察结果不能说明实验对象大脑活动变化是由催眠所致还是由于任务命令所致。
在麦克格温的实验中，研究人员在实验对象完成每项任务的间隔时间内观察他们的大脑活动，记录他们在没有任何命令或任务干扰情况下的大脑活动情况，与实验对象在没有受到催眠诱导情况下的大脑活动情况比对。这是首次以这种方式研究催眠对大脑活动的影响。
研究结果发表在《意识与认知》（Consciousness and Cognition）杂志。临床心理学家迈克尔·希普认为研究为“催眠能使大脑接受暗示和建议”理论提供了依据。
改变模式
在一般情况下，人类大脑中有一个区域与做白日梦、开小差和发呆有关。这种状态被称为大脑 “默认模式”。
研究发现，在催眠状态下，高度易受影响者大脑“默认模式”改变，分管开小差的部分活动减少。这一情况只发生在高度易受影响的实验对象身上，麦克格温认为这能证明催眠可“关闭”大脑中让思路开小差的功能，使注意力更集中。
催眠疗法正越来越多地应用于临床治疗。治疗人员催眠患者后用语言等方式给他们建议和暗示，利用催眠状态下大脑易于接受建议的特点，帮助人们戒烟或减肥。
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英国广播公司相关报道（英文）
催眠并非放松，催眠并非催人入眠。催眠也没有必要一定先放松到昏昏欲睡的状态。
这应该作为一个常识，打破长久以来的误区。
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