Hypnosis and Conscious States: The Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective

Trance states are a human universal. Individual and social manifestations of trance are found in all recorded human societies. Understanding them tells us about a fundamental human capacity for altered experiences that is often overlooked in contemporary western societies. Throughout the history of psychology, hypnosis has been a major topic of investigation by some of the leading experimenters and theorists of each generation. Today hypnosis is emerging again as a lively area of research within cognitive (systems level) neuroscience, informing basic questions on the structure and biological basis of conscious states.

This book describes the most recent advances in understanding hypnosis and trance states by researchers working on the neuroscience of consciousness. It contains new and exciting contributions from the latest generation of hypnosis researchers, and provides a lively debate on methodological and theoretical issues central to the development of emerging research paradigms in the cognitive neuroscience of conscious states.

Readers are introduced to many of the new tools now available to researchers in this field. Academics, researchers, and clinicians wanting to develop their knowledge of the latest findings, theories and methods in the scientific study of hypnosis and related states of consciousness will find this an up-to-date guide to this rapidly advancing field.