Pain response in depersonalization: a functional imaging study using hypnosis in healthy subjects

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Depersonalization (DP) involves detachment from self, often with reduced pain perception.
• Altered body schema and cortico-limbic disconnection are hypothesized causes of DP.
• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can investigate neural correlates of DP.

Purpose of the Study:

• To induce depersonalization (DP) in healthy subjects using hypnosis.
• To examine neural patterns of pain perception during hypnotic DP using fMRI.
• To explore the neural mechanisms underlying the subjective experience of DP.

Main Methods:

• Seven healthy subjects with high hypnotic susceptibility participated.
• Three mental states were studied: waking (N-W), hypnotic relaxation (H-R), and hypnotic DP (H-DP).
• Pain was induced via electrical stimulation, with fMRI data collected during all states.

Main Results:

• Nociceptive stimuli activated typical pain networks in the waking state.
• During H-DP, activation was reduced in somatosensory, parietal, and prefrontal cortices, putamen, and amygdala.
• Subjects reported significantly decreased pain intensity during H-DP.

Conclusions:

• Reduced pain response in sensory and affective areas correlates with diminished pain perception in DP.
• Decreased responsiveness in self-body perception networks may underlie the 'out-of-body' experience in DP.
• Hypnotic DP is a valuable tool for studying self-injury mechanisms and the mind-body connection in psychosomatic disorders.