How Hypnosis Changes Perception

    Hypnosis is a type of therapy that helps create a state of relaxation and concentration for the person receiving the therapy. A certified hypnotist is able to guide a person into this deep state of relaxation and focus by talking, repetition, and images. The way that hypnosis works isn't entirely understood however it can be affective for some mental health conditions such as generalized anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. 

              

              

         

       A study done on how the mind perceives different objects had 60 participants with multiple levels of suggestibility (how well they take suggestions.) Each person was hypnotized, given a real wooden board, and told that the board in their hand would block their perception of the screen. As they were thinking of the board being a blockade, a stimulus was presented to them. In a control condition, they were given the stimuli without the mention of the wooden board being a blockade. They were then asked how many squares they saw. The conclusion was that when they were told the wooden board blocks their vision, they could see the stimuli anyway but they could not process what they just saw leading to poor counting of the stimuli which is in line with the idea that there is a dissociation between sensory and perceptual processing areas in the brain. 

References: 

 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-05195-2

 https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/22676-hypnosis

https://www.discovermagazine.com/mind/five-mesmerizing-facts-about-hypnosis