{"id":1733,"date":"2024-09-17T09:09:54","date_gmt":"2024-09-17T09:09:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.prhysme.com\/the-lab\/"},"modified":"2024-10-04T11:15:34","modified_gmt":"2024-10-04T11:15:34","slug":"the-lab","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.prhysme.com\/en\/the-lab\/","title":{"rendered":"The lab"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Research strategy<\/span><\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Not born hypnotizable<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The idea that response to hypnosis is a trait, a general propensity to respond to suggestions, is the dominant view and represent one of the most consensual points in experimental research. However, setting aside the quasi-circular nature of this explanation, we find this idea is based on rather tenuous results. <\/p>\n

The last few decades have witnessed an accumulation of flaws in this conception of hypnosis. Perhaps the most damning result against this approach is the mechanistic diversity of responding to a suggestion. In short, the same hypnotic phenomenon can be realized in different ways by different individuals. <\/p>\n

This has been demonstrated, for example, in hypnotic arm paralysis, with one strategy relying on a muscular mechanism and another purely cognitive [lien vers billet de blog \u00e0 ce sujet]. If a single hypnotic phenomenon may rely on drastically different mechanisms, it undermines the very idea of explaining the totality of these phenomena with a monolithic explanation <\/p>\n

Hypnosis is an activity that is performed by individuals, not something that against their will. Just as different people have different levels in their ability to swim, so do they in hypnotic responsiveness. <\/p>\n

As no one was born a champion swimmer, the question at the heart of our laboratory is:
how can we optimize hypnotic responses?<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Trance as a technology to be developed<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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To meet the many challenges of optimizing hypnotic response, we approach hypnosis as a skilled action enacted by the hypnotized person and usually assisted and guided by a hypnotist. This perspective has the benefit to reconnect the field of hypnosis to other research areas and paradigms. In a way, this approach is the polar opposite to the \u201ctrance approach\u201d which aims at explaining many phenomena under the construct of trance. On the contrary, we aim at uncovering the multiplicity of mechanisms present in specific phenomena that may independently be involved in other \u201ctrance phenomena\u201d <\/p>\n

Indeed, typical hypnotic phenomena do happen outside the context of hypnosis and are incredibly diverse. These include strong modulations of the sense of agency, modulation of normal cognitive functioning, as well as changes in perceptions, cognitions, emotions and psychosomatic effects. In short, these are modulations of experience. <\/p>\n

Controlling these phenomena would have decisive applications in clinical psychology, medicine, coaching and more. Although these applications already exist, they are mainly hampered by the difficulty of reliably elicit useful hypnotic phenomena for the majority of people.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are in a similar situation to the history of electricity, where in the 18th<\/sup> century there were well-known cases of electrical phenomena (lightning, animal electricity, static electricity, etc.) but no technical mastery of the phenomenon. Like electricity at the time, trance is a technology yet to be developed. Hypnotism is based on two centuries of technical evolution, and we are determined to combine the technicality of its practice with the rigor of science. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Complex mechanisms
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Why have these questions resisted almost a century of experimental research?<\/p>\n

Today, cell biology would be unthinkable without the appropriate microscopy equipment. Indeed, this is the level of observation required to answer current questions in the field. Similarly, hypnosis needs to be studied at a finer level of granularity, that is to say as a complex assemblage of simpler phenomena rather than a monolithic phenomenon. <\/p>\n

Consequently, our experimental approach is based on three pillars:<\/p>\n

> A technical development of hypnosis must be based on causal links rather than mere correlations. For this reason, our research is interventional, aiming to establish the necessary and sufficient conditions to produce hypnotic phenomena by comparing fine variations between protocols. <\/p>\n

> Our research is based on rich, reliable data. The fact that hypnotic phenomena are predominantly subjective has largely hampered the research, since it is possible for participants’ accounts to be influenced by the experimental context such as demand characteristics. To avoid this, subjective reports are supplemented by implicit behavioral tests and physiological measurements. This density of convergent measures aims to reduce the interpretative flexibility of the results and improve their robustness. <\/p>\n

> We also use appropriate mathematical models to describe the complex phenomena of hypnosis. These models provide greater transparency as to what our theories actually predict and minimize the latitude for interpretation. <\/p>\n

These three pillars \u2013 intervention research, the use of reliable convergent data and the use of descriptive models \u2013 aim at fostering our understanding of hypnosis in a way that will have strong repercussions in practice and, ultimately, for users<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Intervention
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Converging methodologies<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Modeling<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The team<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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