Self-Hypnosis and Phineas Gage
Why is self-hypnosis so beneficial? And how did a man with a pole in his head start the field of neuroscience?
Hey Brainiacs,
Welcome to this week's newsletter! I am super excited because this week we will be talking about an app near and dear to me: Reveri, an app to guide you through self-hypnosis! Plus, you’ll find out how a man with a pole through his head changed neuroscience forever.
Reveri and Self-Hypnosis
Self-hypnosis has been shown to improve sleep, relieve stress and anxiety, manage pain, improve focus, deal with loss, and more. But what is it? Well, self-hypnosis requires a person to use relaxation methods and visualization to enter a hypnotic state1. The “self” part in self-hypnosis refers to the fact that you're learning how to guide yourself into a hypnotic state but doing it in your own time, in your own surroundings. It is very similar to meditation. And like meditation, it is a skill that has to be learned and practiced. The biggest difference between meditation and self-hypnosis is that self-hypnosis is goal-directed; you have something you want to achieve in mind. For example, you’d like to quit a habit or rewire your thinking patterns. That’s where Reveri comes in2!
I’m a user of, ambassador and neuroscientist in residence for Reveri, the app designed to help you with self-hypnosis. The app is pioneered and co-founded by leading Stanford psychiatrist, Dr. David Spiegel, who has spent decades researching the benefits of self-hypnosis. In this newsletter, I am going to break down some research explaining how self-hypnosis works.
Brain areas required for self-hypnosis play a key role in pain, stress, vigilance and conflict detection, and attention and focus. The main area that I will focus on is the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). People who are easily able to self-hypnotize have lower activity in the ACC, and reduced activity in the ACC has been linked to reduced pain levels3. In fact, a clinical trial found that in patients with fibromyalgia, self-hypnosis greatly reduced the intensity of their pain4. But how does hypnosis reduce activity in the ACC? Well, another study showed that people who are easily hypnotized have increased GABA, the calming neurochemical, in their ACC5. So, self-hypnosis likely increases GABA, leading to reduced ACC activity, and reduced pain!
The ACC also plays a role in controlling our attention and mood. The ACC is involved in monitoring our surroundings and evaluating context. So reduced ACC activity means less focus on the external environment and more focus on our internal environment. This explains why someone who is easily hypnotized is less likely to fall to distractions7. It also provides a framework for how hypnosis is involved in improving focus7. This enhanced focus on our internal environment can also help us to better control our emotions, and dissociate from external stressors6,7. And, evaluation of context can often cause anxiety (‘should I focus on this or is this more important’), so a reduction in context evaluation may explain the anxiolytic effect of hypnosis6.
But in my opinion, these studies show something even more exciting - there is a lot of variability in the underlying neurobiology of different individuals, and accordingly, a lot of variability in how easily someone self-hypnotizes. So, if you’re struggling with self-hypnosis, remember that it isn’t easy for everyone, but with practice, it gets easier! And the benefits are certainly worth the effort, even if you’re not highly hypnotizable. You will still benefit from the effects, and may even get better over time.
Click here if you want to try a free 14-day trial of Reveri!
Phineas Gage
Phineas Gage is a pretty big name in the neuroscience world. He essentially started the field off back in the 1840s, when an accident on the railway left him with a giant pole through his left frontal lobe8. In previous newsletters, I have talked about the prefrontal cortex, which is located in the frontal lobe, and I even referred to this area as the ‘personality center’! And this is all thanks to Phineas Gage8.
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As I said, Phineas Gage worked on the railway and due to an explosion in 1848, he ended up with a giant pole through his skull and brain8. And he survived, if you can believe that! But he wasn’t quite the same. Though physically well and even still able to talk, he had changed. His friends didn’t recognize him. His once kind and courteous nature was gone. He was now abusive, harsh, and violent8. These changes were reported by his treating physician at Harvard University, Dr. John Harlow, but little attention was given to this initially. He was treated as fully recovered by most of the medical community.
That is, until Dr. David Ferrier heard about this Phineas, and was inspired to write the first modern frontal lobe theory9. This theory claimed that the frontal lobe was a personality-related center9. And indeed, now we know the frontal lobe is a personality-related center, and it controls other cognitive functions, including motor control, attention, planning and goal-directed behaviors, memory, mood, and self-awareness10.
So what happened to Phineas? We now know what he experienced was likely a ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPC) lesion. This can cause ‘acquired sociopathy’, a condition where a person suffers from emotional dysregulation, disturbances in goal-directed behavior, disturbances in social behavior, and emotional blunting10. And we now know the frontal lobe is central to many other different psychiatric conditions, including depression, mania, obsessive compulsions, and schizophrenia10. Without Phineas Gage, our research on these conditions would not have been possible. Sometimes you just gotta take a pole to the head!
Until next week,
Nicole x
P.S. Please leave comments with what topics you’d like to be covered in future weeks!
References
Hi Nicole! I’ve always been so woowoo about the idea of self hypnosis BUT I had no idea the science behind it. I’ve listened to a few podcasts interviews w you and read this and I’m excited to try reverie 🙂 that’s for sparking an interest in neuroscience for me!
Loving these emails, Nicole! To answer the question at the end of your email - would love more on stress, motivation, discipline or procrastination.