Following 2 surgical operations under hypnotic anesthesia, it was possible, during subsequent recall under hypnosis, to elicit a representation of the past operative experience. Under hypnosis there is apparently a persistence of the perception of nociceptive information and of its recognition as such by the subject. From an analysis of these 2 experiments in recall, several hypotheses are formulated concerning the psychological processes involved in hypnotic analgesia. In consequence of an affective relationship, in which the hypnotist''s word assumes a special importance for the subject, the latter has recourse to 2 kinds of mechanism: internal (assimilation to an analogous sensation, not registered as dangerous-rationalization); and external (total compliance with the interpretations proposed by the hypnotist), which lead to a qualitative transformation of nociceptive information, as the inhibition of the behavioral manifestations normally associated with a painful stimulus.
