Contrary to a popular misconception - that hypnosis is a form of unconsciousness resembling [[sleep]] - contemporary [[research]] suggests that it is actually a [[wake]]ful state of [[focus]]ed [[attention]][2] and heightened suggestibility,[3] with diminished [[peripheral]] awareness.[4] In the first book on the subject, ''Neurypnology'' (1843), Braid described "hypnotism" as a state of physical relaxation accompanied and induced by mental concentration ("abstraction"). | Contrary to a popular misconception - that hypnosis is a form of unconsciousness resembling [[sleep]] - contemporary [[research]] suggests that it is actually a [[wake]]ful state of [[focus]]ed [[attention]][2] and heightened suggestibility,[3] with diminished [[peripheral]] awareness.[4] In the first book on the subject, ''Neurypnology'' (1843), Braid described "hypnotism" as a state of physical relaxation accompanied and induced by mental concentration ("abstraction"). |