• Hypnosis works by first decreasing activity in the brains ‘dorsal anterior cingulate’ area, responsible for decision making and evaluation.
• Secondly, it connects two regions of the brain, the insula and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex that increases the br...

• NAc - nucleus accumbens, a key region that mediates a variety of behaviors, like reward and satisfaction.
• OFC - orbitofrontal cortex is considered to have a role in higher-order thinking.
• mPFC - medial prefrontal cortex is also suggested to mediate decision-making.

These pathways, which rely on the neurotransmitter dopamine, are often referred to as the reward system, but they are also involved in motivation, attention, decision making, and other complex functions. In their studies, Wang and Volkow found that both drug addicts a...