Hypnosis can be an effective means for treating phobias, managing stress and anxiety, and even for managing pain, but all people are not hypnotized equally. New research from Stanford suggests that about one quarter of people cannot be hypnotized, and using functional and structural MRI scientists there think they’ve figured out why. Those people more apt to be hypnotized show more activity in areas of the brain associated with executive control and attention, while those showing less activity in those areas cannot be put into a hypnotic state.
