Abstract: Despite its widely use in clinical settings,the checkered reputation of hypnosis has dimmed its promise as a research instrument.With the availability of functional imaging techniques, such as fMRI, ERP and PET, we had a more thorough understanding of hypnotic induction and suggestion. It has been noted that the hypnotically suggested pain is similar to that seen with a comparable physically induced pain at least to the “high hypnotizable” person; In addition, the functional modulation of cognitive performance with hypnotic suggestion could be achieved,one compelling line of research exploring attention and attentional conflict has involved the suppression of the Stroop Effect using a hypnotic suggestion that disrupted lexical processing; Furthermore,a disassociation between implicit memory and explicit memory has been achieved by posthypnotic amnesia.In the future, researchers will continue to reveal the essence of the hypnosis form two strands,the first comprises studies exploring the cognitive and neuro nature of hypnosis itself. The second employs hypnosis to explore known psychological processes using specifically targeted suggestion.

Key words: hypnosis induction, suggestion, function phantom technology, posthypnotic amnesia, posthypnotic suggestion