Researchers Discover Evidence of Hypnotic State

A team of Scandinavian researchers believe they have found evidence for the existence of a hypnotic state — a finding that has eluded scientists’ since the introduction of the concept over 250 years ago.

The key, say the researchers, is in the glazed staring eyes.

A multidisciplinary group of researchers from Finland and Sweden believe that strange stare may be the key to a solution to the debate about the existence of a hypnotic state.

One of the most widely known features of a hypnotized person in the popular culture is a glazed, wide-open look in the eyes.

Ironically, this physical sign has not been studied in any detail, probably due to the fact that it can be seen in only some hypnotized people.

The new case-study followed a very highly hypnotizable participant who can be hypnotized and dehypnotized by just using a one-word cue. The change between hypnotic state and normal state can thus be varied in seconds.

Researchers used high-resolution eye-tracking methodology and presented a set of well-established oculomotor (eye-tracking) tasks that trigger automatic eye behavior.

Full Article: [link to psychcentral.com]