Ulrike Halsband
Is a Neuropsychology Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Freiburg. She teaches psychology students the use of hypnosis and combines this with research projects on the efficiacy of hypnosis and meditation in normal subjects and in patients with specific phobias and anxiety disorders.
Functional Changes in Brain Activity after Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy: The Science of Hypnosis and Its Application to Patients with Anxiety Disorders
A hypnotic session can be seen as a guided induction of various states of consciousness. We looked at brain plasticity changes in hypnosis using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron-emission-tomography (PET), and electroencephalography (EEG) in healthy subjects. In summary, these studies provide an illustrated proof for the detectability of physiological state changes as correlates to different states of awareness, consciousness or cognition during hypnosis.
Hypnosis and hypnotherapy are considered to be powerful interventions against anxiety. Therefore, in a second series of experiments we investigated patients with a specific phobia or music performance anxiety (stage-fright). Using fMRI we analyzed the effects of a brief hypnosis in patients with a disproportional fear of dental procedures. During hypnosis, these dental phobic patients showed a significantly reduced activation in the left amygdala, bilateral ACC, insula and hippocampus. In a separate project we performed a randomized controlled study to investigate the effects of a five-week hypnotherapy treatment in subjects with music performance anxiety compared to a cognitive training (Fresh Minder). Multiple aspects were assessed including physiological measures such as heart rate and heart rate variability as well as subjective ratings on standardized anxiety questionnaires. Results indicate that hypnotherapy was the most promising treatment for stage-fright. Taken together, we found evidence that hypnosis is a most powerful and succesful method for inhibiting the reaction of the fear circuitry structures.
