Ever been curious about hypnosis? In this blog, we explore one of the simplest catalysts for hypnosis: selective attention, and briefly talk about the science behind it.

Disclaimer: I am not a psychologist or neurologist, nor do I specialise in a related field. This is a casual article written with my experiences and interpretations with some academic research.

The Cambridge dictionary defines hypnosis as:

  • “an artificially produced state of mind similar to sleep in which a person can be influenced to say or do things”

In this case, we focus on exploring optical fixation to influence us to look at things differently, rather than say or do things. We try to experience phenomena similar to dreams.

Selective attention: Troxler’s fading

We start simple, then build our way upwards. Let’s first look at a famous optical illusion: the lilac chaser.

lilac-chaser-animation

A few lilac spots are arranged in a circle and they blink sequentially. If you fixate on the cross from a short distance (e.g. for 1 minute without your eyes leaving the cross), you may notice 2 things:

  1. The lilac spot blinks blue-green
  2. The other lilac spots get faded or completely disappear
When we look at an object, we make small, involuntary eye movements. One of these eye movements is called microsaccades, and they happen typically 1-2 times a second. Scientists have proposed that they allow us to retain the image of the object we see, as well as its surroundings.

Studies suggest when Troxler's fading occurs, microsaccades happen at a slower rate and with less intensity.

See Martinez-Conde et al. (2006) for more information.

Let’s try another experiment: fixate on the cross near the screen without looking anywhere else. After some time, the colours start to fade or completely disappear.

fading-colours

Staring at a mirror

staring-at-a-mirror

This experiment is simple: find a mirror or use the camera on your computer or phone. Mark a spot near the centre of your face, then stare at that spot without looking anywhere else for 5 minutes - similar to the previous experiments.

This works best in a dimly lit environment. Alternatively, stare at yourself, but without marking a spot. This takes longer for the hypnosis and delusions to take effect, but the interpretation is after enough time (e.g. an hour), the person gets bored and end up fixating on a point anyways.

Afterthoughts

Current research by experts do not offer concrete explanations to such phenomenons, but it’s fascinating how easily our minds can be tricked into misperceptions.

In fact, we can draw some parallels between extra-terrestrial sightings and delusions caused by hypnosis. A lot of UFO sightings happen late at night, which means:

  1. The environment is dimly lit.
  2. The person is tired.

Both of which are ingredients for hypnosis.