Hypnotizability-related differences in written language

The study was aimed at analyzing the written production of subjects with high (Highs) and low (Lows) hypnotizability scores. The participants were asked to write short texts following highly imaginative titles in standard conditions. The texts were processed through computerized and manual methods. The results showed that the Highs' texts are more sophisticated owing to a higher number of abstract nouns, more intense and imaginative owing to a larger number of similes, metaphors and onomatopoeias, less detailed owing to a higher nouns-to adjectives ratio. The differences in the use of abstract nouns and highly imageable expressions are discussed in relation to the pre-eminent left hemisphere activity of highs during wakefulness and to a possibly different involvement of the precuneus which is involved in hypnotic phenomena.