Psychosomatic Medicine 28:351-363 (1966)
© 1966 American Psychosomatic Society

Hypnotically Induced Visual Hallucinations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pa.
² Department of Psychiatry, University of Indiana School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Ind.

Hypnotized subjects who reported vivid hallucinations of a visual situation which would ordinarily elicit optokinetic nystagmus (e.g., gazing at a rotating drum having vertical black and white stripes) demonstrated nystagmus under these conditions. They and other subjects were unable to feign nystagmus in the waking state, either by imagining the situation or by direct efforts to simulate the eye movements. Thus, an objective criterion is provided for the presence of visual hallucinations. This technique to ascertain the presence of visual hallucinations may be a powerful tool for the study of a number of related problems, including analysis of some of the parameters of hypnotic visual hallucinations and study of the psychology and physiology of hallucinations in general.