title: Hypnotizability-related differences in written language.
abstract: The study analyzed the writing products of subjects with high (highs) and low (lows) hypnotizability. The participants were asked to write short texts in response to highly imaginative scenarios in standard conditions. The texts were processed through computerized and manual methods. The results showed that the highs' texts were more sophisticated due to a higher number of abstract nouns, more intense and imaginative due to a larger number of similes, metaphors, and onomatopoeias, and less detailed due to a higher nouns-to-adjectives ratio. The differences in the use of abstract nouns and highly imageable expressions are discussed in relation to the preeminent left-hemisphere activity of highs during wakefulness and to a possibly different involvement of the precuneus, which is involved in hypnotic phenomena.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Computational Linguistics, National Council of Research, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Marinelli
authors.forename: Remo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bindi
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Marchi
authors.forename: Eleonora
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Castellani
authors.forename: Giancarlo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Carli
authors.forename: Enrica L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Santarcangelo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006990:Hypnosis; D008037:Linguistics; D014956:Writing; D055815:Young Adult