Neuropsychological test performance and hypnotic susceptibility

Treated 70 patients for alcohol dependency. Various degrees of cortical dysfunctioning were represented as measured by the Halstead-Reitan Neuropsychological Battery. The study's purpose was to determine whether there was a relationship between brain-behavior and hypnotic susceptibility as measured by the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale and its Fromm-Weingarten modification. It was found that the two scales were interchangeable insofar as they measured the same ability. Results indicate that hypnotic susceptibility is related to cognitive ability independent of lateralization. Further studies that use the same instruments with more precisely neurologically impaired patients are needed.