Does hypnotizability affect neurovascular coupling during cognitive tasks?

Susceptibility to hypnosis is a very pervasive psychophysiological trait characterized by different attentional abilities, information processing, and cardiovascular control. Since near infrared spectroscopy is a good index of neurovascular coupling, we used it during mental computation (MC) and trail making task (TMT) in 13 healthy low-to-medium (med-lows) and 10 healthy medium-to-high (med-highs) hypnotizable participants classified according to the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale, form A, and characterized for the level of proneness to be deeply absorbed in related experiences by the Tellegen Absorption Scale. The med-highs reported greater ab-sorption than med-lows. The tissue hemoglobin index (THI) and the tissue oxygenation index (TOI) increased across the tasks only in med-highs who displayed also different time courses of THI and TOI during MC and TMT, which indicates different tasks processing despite the two groups' similar performance. The findings suggest that med-highs' tissue oxygenation is more finely adjusted to metabolic demands than med-lows'.

Automated summary

Susceptibility to hypnosis is a pervasive psychophysiological trait characterized by different attentional abilities, information processing, and cardiovascular control. This study used near infrared spectroscopy to examine the brain activity of participants with different levels of hypnotizability during mental computation and trail making tasks. The findings indicate that individuals with medium-to-high hypnotizability have more finely adjusted tissue oxygenation in response to metabolic demands.