state of hypnosis

good predictor of the depth of the state of hypnosis as well as a predictor of hypnotic ability. Previous research also implicates the neurohormone oxytocin to both hypnosis and the social engagement system (Bryant, Hung, Guastella, & Mitchell, 2012; Porges, 2011), and oxytocin appears to play a similar role in calming and attuning the autonomic nervous system in both experiences. Collectively, these lines of research seem to demon- strate that the autonomic psychophysiology of empathically attuning to people is similar to the experience of hypnosis and is also predictive of being able to experience hypnosis.

The psychophysiogical convergence between the hypnotist and the hypnotic subject discussed in Eve Banyai’s (1998) research demonstrates the kind of emotional conta- gion effect that Cardeña and colleagues (2008) were able to correlate with hypnotic ability. The idea that emotional contagion, imitation, or the chameleon effect (Chartrand & Bargh, 1999) are related to hypnosis has long been discussed and written about, going back to Benjamin Franklin’s observations of the séances of mesmerism (Forrest, 1999). Sigmund Freud (1922) and Clark Hull (1933) both remarked upon the nature of imitation in hypnosis, and Hull even attempted to invent a device to measure it. More recently, a number of researchers and theorists have speculated that the network of mirror neurons in the brain may underlie this relationship (Rossi & Rossi, 2006; Wickramasekera II, 2007b). Mirror neurons are a subtype of neurons that are hardwired to fire in response to the body language and emotion-related movements of others (Gallese, 2009). Mirror neurons appear to offer our brains a bottom-up oriented way of understanding other peo- ple’s emotions through imitating/mirroring the neural firing patterns in our own brain networks that we observe in others. It is important to note that these neurons fire max- imally in relationship to the movements of others and not in relationship to the body movements in which we ourselves are engaged. The mirror neuron network is thought to help us to implicitly and automatically understand how another person is feeling through forming a neural representation or simulation about what the observable body movements of others might mean physically and emotionally. For example, witnessing a person who is shivering, stamping their feet, and rubbing their hands might generally signal to us that they are cold and quite probably unhappy.