Neuroscientists Tackle Hypnosis

The first scientific reports on hypnosis date back to the 18th century, but modern researchers have often shied away from the subject after it acquired the aura of post-Freudian pseudoscience. But the method is being take more seriously lately, with researchers like Stanford psychiatrist David Speigel hooking up hypnotized subjects to neuroimaging tools. He discovered distinct neurological signatures for people in hypnotized states.

*Seed *reports:

"When they use hypnosis to alter perception, the subjective experience is altered in measurable changes in just the right part of the brain," Spiegel said. "When people say they are feeling less pain, they really are feeling less pain."

"It's providing objective evidence that hypnosis is real," he continued.