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Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 19: Jan-Feb 1982 |
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Mind Marshals White Blood Cells
If a hypnotist suggests to a receptive subject that his white blood cells are attacking cancer cells in his body, the population of white blood cells ranging through the subject's body will increase. Such "visualization" research is being conducted by Howard R. Hall at Penn State. The results seem to demonstrate the direct influence of hypnotic suggestion on the body's immune system.
(Anonymous; "Hypnotism May Help Antibody Production," Baltimore Sun, October 19, 1981.)
Comment. Since hypnotic suggestion is known to affect warts, body temperature, etc., its enhancement of the white blood cell population is merely one more example of the power of the mind over the body. The real mystery is just how the brain's electrical signals are converted into specific biological activity.