ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses Laurentian University Neuroscience Research Group. It describes the hypothesis that overt displays of hypnotizability are derived from neurocognitive processes that are very similar to those associated with synchronous electrical activity within the deep structures of the ventral cerebrum. The principles of modern neuroscience predict that all phenomenological and subjective experiences are determined by brain activity. The capacity to be hypnotized is assumed to be a normal correlate of brain function. Because of the strong cognitive component that is involved with hypnotizability, the role of cerebral structures would be primary. If a similar source of brain variance contributes to hypnotizability and to affective disorders, then one should expect strong concordance between the symptoms of the temporal lobe epileptic and affective patients. Patients with suspected brain injuries who display enhanced complex partial epileptic-like signs show marked and extreme disruptions in proficiency during dichotic listening tasks.