Focused hypnotic concentration is a model for brain control over sensation and behavior. Pain and anxiety can be effectively alleviated by hypnotic suggestion, which modulates activity in brain regions associated with focused attention, but the specific neural network underlying this phenomenon is not known.

The main goal of the study was to investigate the brain basis of hypnotizability.

Cross sectional, in-vivo neuroimaging study.

Academic medical center at Stanford University School of Medicine.

12 adults with high and 12 adults with low hypnotizability.

(1) functional MRI (fMRI) to measure functional connectivity networks at rest including default-mode, salience and executive-control networks, (2) structural T1 MRI to measure regional grey and white matter volumes, and (3) diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to measure white matter microstructural integrity.

High-compared to low-hypnotizable individuals showed greater functional connectivity between left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), an executive-control region of the brain, and the salience network composed of the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), anterior insula, amygdala, and ventral striatum, involved in detecting, integrating, and filtering relevant somatic, autonomic, and emotional information, using independent component analysis (ICA). Seed based analysis confirmed elevated functional coupling between the dACC and the DLPFC in high, compared to low, hypnotizables. These functional differences were not due to variation in brain structure in these regions, including regional grey and white matter volumes and white matter microstructure.

Our results provide novel evidence that altered functional connectivity in DLPFC and dACC may underlie hypnotizability. Future studies focusing on how these functional networks change and interact during hypnosis are warranted.