Hypnotizability and Performance on a Prism Adaptation Test.
The susceptibility to hypnosis, which can be measured by scales, is not merely a cognitive trait. In fact, it is associated with a number of physiological correlates in the ordinary state of consciousness and in the absence of suggestions. The hypnotizability-related differences observed in sensorimotor integration suggested a major role of the cerebellum in the peculiar performance of healthy subjects with high scores of hypnotic susceptibility (highs). In order to provide behavioral evidence of this hypothesis, we submitted 20 highs and 21 low hypnotizable participants (lows) to the classical cerebellar Prism Adaptation Test (PAT). We found that the highs' performance was significantly less accurate and more variable than the lows' one, even though the two groups shared the same characteristics of adaptation to prismatic lenses. Although further studies are required to interpret these findings, they could account for earlier reports of hypnotizability-related differences in postural control and blink rate, as they indicate that hypnotizability influences the cerebellar control of sensorimotor integration.
Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Neuroscience, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
Manuel
M
Menzocchi
Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Neuroscience, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
Giulio
G
Mecacci
Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Neuroscience, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
Andrea
A
Zeppi
Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Neuroscience, University of Siena, Siena, Italy.
Giancarlo
G
Carli
Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Via San Zeno 31, 56127, Pisa, Italy. enricals@dfb.unipi.it.
Enrica L
EL
Santarcangelo
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006990:Hypnosis; D007206:Individuality; D007909:Lenses; D008297:Male; D011581:Psychological Tests; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011601:Psychophysics; D014796:Visual Perception
Accuracy; Cerebellum; Hypnotizability; Nitric oxide; Prismatic adaptation; Sensorimotor integration