Psycho-physiological reactions following painful stimuli under hypnotic analgesia contrasted with gas anesthesia and novocain block

Abstract

Three subjects selected for depth of analgesic effects underwent a series of experiments in which they were subjected to pain stimuli under conditions of hypnotic analgesia, local block, and gas anesthesia. Physiological reactions of blood pressure, pulse rate, skin potential, and respiratory changes were secured and recorded. The stimuli used were sharp pain, inflicted by a blood lancet, continuous pain from pressure with a thumb tack, hot water (49° C.), and indifferent stimuli. It is concluded that physiological reactions to sensory stimuli are not abolished by suggested hypnotic analgesia, that they can be affected by suggestion in the hypnotic state and by imagination in the normal state, that gas anesthesia abolishes physiological reactions to moderately intense stimuli, and that external reactions associated with pain may be abolished by hypnotic analgesia, by imagining analgesia in the normal waking state, by local block, and by gas anesthesia. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)