Demystifying the cognitive processes involved in hypnosis.
When most people hear the term 鈥渉ypnosis,鈥� they think of stage magicians, swinging watches and B-movie twists. Not so for Joel Weinberger, PhD, professor in the Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology, and doctoral student of psychology Gavriel Knafo. Together, with Knafo as senior author, they published 鈥溾�� (Brain Sciences, April 2024).1
Joel Weinberger, PhD, professor in the Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology
Hypnosis is a 鈥渃ontroversial, long-studied phenomenon,鈥� according to Dr. Weinberger, an expert in the field of unconscious processes. But rather than 鈥渟ome kind of mystical state of consciousness, or connection to an ineffable higher order,鈥� hypnosis is actually a manifestation of the brain鈥檚 regular unconscious processes.
One of the 鈥渕ystical鈥� draws of hypnosis is the assumption of a 鈥渦nitary experience鈥� during our waking lives, which hypnosis is seemingly able to split into two. One part of the participant鈥檚 mind is 鈥渓istening鈥� to the hypnotist, while the rest is unaware of what鈥檚 happening. 鈥淭he reality is that the mind is not unitary,鈥� Dr. Weinberger said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e doing a million things at the same time, which is called parallel processing, and most of that is unconscious. Hypnosis is just another way of demonstrating those parallel processes that happen all the time.鈥�
He cites the example of a conversation. 鈥淵ou speak to another person consciously and presume they鈥檙e conscious of you speaking to them. But where did your understanding come from? Where did the words you just verbalized come from? You have no idea, and yet it鈥檚 happening. We have no conscious access to the parts of our brains that are creating words or understanding what others say.鈥�
Dr. Weinberger and Knafo wanted to demystify the cognitive processes involved in hypnosis through a comprehensive review of various explanatory theories. Their article covers the practice鈥檚 Western origins; related psychoanalytic and neurocognitive theories; and theories centered on conscious cognition, social factors and the interplay of conscious and unconscious attributions. 鈥淒ue to the number of neurological theories around hypnosis, both modern and from the last two centuries, we thought the review would be helpful in teasing out what is really the role of the unconscious in hypnosis,鈥� Knafo said.
Gavriel Knafo, doctoral student of psychology
It was clear to both that hypnosis involves a genuine unconscious aspect. Knafo explained that 鈥減eople under stage hypnosis don鈥檛 do things they would in their everyday lives, and it would be hard to self-hypnotize without training for that.鈥� Their analysis draws on Sigmund Freud鈥檚 conception of the unconscious, which contains both the unconscious itself and the preconscious (on the verge of becoming conscious).
Throughout the literature, 鈥渞elaxed states鈥濃�攕uch as hypnosis, dreaming and the moments before sleep鈥攚ere seen to allow preconscious processes to open their proverbial gates, allowing freer access to unconscious processes. To help describe this recurring idea, Knafo and Dr. Weinberger coined the term 鈥済atekeeper.鈥�
Under hypnosis, the gatekeeper mechanism guides and modulates between nonconscious and conscious information, determining which elements of experience are brought to full awareness and which remain unconscious. 鈥淯nderstanding this dynamic interplay is crucial for comprehending the complex nature of hypnosis,鈥� Dr. Weinberger and Knafo note in the paper. Their review found that the gatekeeper鈥檚 selective nature profoundly influences not only how hypnosis participants process the cues that shape hypnotic experiences, but also their interpretation of the experience afterward.
Much like Dr. Weinberger鈥檚 example of conversational parallel processes, hypnosis illuminates the degree to which the unconscious and conscious parts of our minds are in constant interaction. 鈥淣othing is purely conscious or purely unconscious,鈥� the paper maintains. 鈥淢oreover, there is no firm line that differentiates the two.鈥�
Through their review, Dr. Weinberger and Knafo reframe hypnosis as an extension of standard mental functioning鈥攁nd, ultimately, an aspect of cognitive science that can sustain further study. Or, as Dr. Weinberger said, 鈥淲e just tried to make sense out of something most people see as mysterious.鈥�
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1 Knafo, G., & Weinberger, J. (2024). Exploring the role of conscious and unconscious processes in hypnosis: A theoretical review. Brain Sciences,
About Joel Weinberger, PhD
Joel Weinberger, PhD, is a professor in the Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology. His primary research interest over the past 20 years has been unconscious processes, which is the subject of a book he co-authored, titled The Unconscious: Theory, Research, and Clinical Implications.