Our Brain is Sensitive For Social Information
Hypnosis has helped researchers verify the fact that the brain is receptive to social information. Everyday actions are analysed by the brain and the journal Consciousness and Cognition report the findings of neuroscientists Professor Dr.
Hypnosis has helped researchers verify the fact that the brain is receptive to social information. Everyday actions are analysed by the brain and the journal Consciousness and Cognition report the findings of neuroscientists Professor Dr. Albert Newen and Professor Dr. Martin Brune amongst others.
Hypnosis was used to analyse bottom-up attention participants were viewed placing coins into large bowls and there was an estimation of what would happen due to the hypnotise. An ECG was used and mu-suppression was analysed and as suspected, it was stronger when the person involved was hypnotised. Albert Newen believes that the work they have carried out proves that the reason humans are different to animals is because of social competence.READ ALSO: Eight Percent of Our DNA is Non-Human
As humans, we are attracted to things that we can see yet there is little research as to how changes in attention can alter the way the views are analysed even though the answer would allow us to see how such changes shows processes like action understanding.
Hypnosis was used to induce an increase in bottom-up attention. The ECG u-wave suppression was recorded while patients were hypnotised while they were offered first and third person intentional actions. The results showed that hypnosis builds up u-suppression when humans are viewing actions that were intentional.
The suggestion is that the processing of social action is improved when there are predominant bottom-up attentional processes. The findings have given credence to the Social Relevance Hypothesis stating social action processing is an attentional process that is bottom up driven and can be changed.
Source: Katharina Gregor – RUB
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Helena Marsh
Helena Marsh is the Editor-in-Chief at TrendinTech, where she leads editorial strategy and oversees coverage across artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and enterprise technology. With more than a decade in technology journalism on both sides of the Atlantic, she previously served as a senior editor at Wired UK and covered the technology sector for The Guardian, following the rise of the big platforms, the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the regulatory push from Brussels and Washington. Helena holds an MA in Journalism from City, University of London and is a regular speaker at Web Summit in Lisbon and CES in Las Vegas. She believes technology reporting should be rigorous and plainly written, so readers understand what actually changes for them rather than what a company's announcement promises.
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