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Systematic decrease of slow-wave sleep after a guided imagery designed to deepen sleep in low hypnotizable subjects.
Maren Jasmin Cordi1,2, Björn Rasch1,2
1Division of Cognitive Biopsychology and Methods, Department of Psychology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.
Journal of Sleep Research
|August 18, 2020
Summary
Pre-sleep suggestions to sleep more deeply reduced slow-wave sleep in low-hypnotizable individuals, regardless of using hypnosis or guided imagery. This challenges the idea that aversion to hypnosis causes this effect.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Sleep Science
- Psychology
Background:
- Slow-wave sleep is crucial for health and cognitive function.
- Pre-sleep mental state, including hypnotic suggestion, can influence sleep depth.
- Previous studies showed hypnotic suggestions to sleep deeply increased slow-wave sleep in hypnotizable individuals but decreased it in low-hypnotizable ones.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if framing hypnotic suggestions as 'guided imagery' improves sleep depth in low-hypnotizable individuals.
- To determine if aversion to hypnosis, rather than the suggestion itself, causes detrimental effects on sleep in low-hypnotizable subjects.
- To explore the influence of pre-sleep mental states on slow-wave sleep.
Main Methods:
- Young, healthy, low-hypnotizable participants underwent a guided imagery intervention with the suggestion to sleep more deeply.
- Polysomnography was used to measure sleep architecture, including slow-wave activity.
- The intervention involved breathing relaxation instead of hypnotic induction, with the core suggestion remaining identical.
Main Results:
- Low-hypnotizable participants showed reduced slow-wave sleep duration after the guided imagery intervention.
- The ratio of slow-wave activity to beta band power decreased, indicating shallower sleep.
- Subjective sleep quality was not affected by the intervention.
Conclusions:
- Suggestions to sleep more deeply decrease sleep depth in low-hypnotizable individuals, irrespective of the mental technique used (guided imagery vs. hypnosis).
- Aversion to hypnosis does not explain the negative impact on slow-wave sleep in this group.
- Pre-sleep mental states can influence slow-wave sleep, but the mechanisms behind detrimental effects in low-hypnotizable individuals remain unclear.
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