title: The impact of hypnotic suggestions on reaction times in continuous performance test in adults with ADHD and healthy controls.
abstract: Attention is one of the key factors in both hypnotic processes and patients with ADHD. In addition, the brain areas associated with hypnosis and ADHD overlap in many respects. However, the use of hypnosis in ADHD patients has still received only minor attention in research. The main purpose of the present work was to investigate whether hypnosis and hypnotic suggestions influence the performance of adult ADHD (n = 27) and control participants (n = 31) in the continuous performance test (CPT). The hypnotic susceptibility of the participants was measured by the Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility (HGSHS:A) and the attentional task was a three minute long auditory version of the CPT. The CPT task was administered four times: before hypnosis (CPT1), after a hypnotic induction (CPT2), after suggestions about speed and accuracy (CPT3), and after the termination of hypnosis (CPT4). The susceptibility of the groups measured by HGSHS:A did not differ. There was a statistically significant decrease in reaction times in both ADHD and control groups between CPT2 and CPT3. The differences between CPT1 and CPT2, even though non-significant, were different in the two groups: in the ADHD group reaction times decreased whereas in the control group they increased. Both groups made very few errors in the short CPT. This study indicates that hypnotic suggestions have an effect on reaction times in the sustained attention task both in adult ADHD patients and control subjects. The theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cognitive and Neuropsychology, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Maarit
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Virta
authors.affiliation: Division of Cognitive and Neuropsychology, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; The Helsinki University Centre for Research and Development of Higher Education, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Seppo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hiltunen
authors.affiliation: The Helsinki University Centre for Research and Development of Higher Education, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mattsson
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Neuroscience and Philosophy, School of Bioscience, University of Skövde, Skövde, Sweden; Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
authors.forename: Sakari
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kallio
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006990:Hypnosis / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult