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GENETIC PREDISPOSITION for HYPNOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY: an INTRODUCTORY STUDY on the POTENTIAL of GENETIC PREDICTORS Kyle D

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GENETIC PREDISPOSITION for HYPNOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY: an INTRODUCTORY STUDY on the POTENTIAL of GENETIC PREDICTORS Kyle D GENETIC PREDISPOSITION FOR HYPNOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY: AN INTRODUCTORY STUDY ON THE POTENTIAL OF GENETIC PREDICTORS By Kyle David Wannigman A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Humboldt State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Psychology: Academic Research Committee Membership Dr. Ethan Gahtan, Committee Chair Dr. Chris Aberson, Committee Member Dr. Gregg Gold, Committee Member December 2014 Abstract GENETIC PREDISPOSITION FOR HYPNOTIC SUSCEPTIBILITY: AN INTRODUCTORY STUDY ON THE POTENTIAL OF GENETIC PREDICTORS Kyle D. Wannigman Hypnotherapy is an empirically supported, clinical intervention used in the treatment of a wide variety of mental, physical, and emotional dysfunctions. Hypnotizability is a stable and heritable personality trait. Individual differences in hypnotic susceptibility have been shown to correspond to hypnotherapeutic success. Increasingly, gene variants have been linked to facets of personality as well as their related psychological and physiological disorders. These variants are used as predictors of responses to medical treatments including drugs, psychotherapy, and placebo effects. These studies support hypotheses relating specific gene variants to differences in hypnotizability. This study investigated two allele variants and their associations to susceptibility: the serotonin transporter gene linked polymorphic region 5HTTLPR and the single nucleotide polymorphism of the catechol-O-methyltransferase at Codon 158. A secondary goal was to assess the validity of the Tellegen Absorption Scale (TAS) by comparing scores to actual hypnosis susceptibility. Hypnotic susceptibility was measured using a standardized group induction method – the Harvard Group Scale for Hypnotic Susceptibility (HGSHS-A). Hypnotizability, TAS scores, COMT genotype, and SERT genotype, was measured in 253 participants. There were no main effects of either gene variant on hypnotic susceptibility and no interactions effects between these genes. TAS scores were not ii significantly correlated with scores on the HGSHS-A, suggesting that TAS is not a valid measure of the hypnotizability construct. These negative results are consistent with other recently published studies. A review of the literature suggests that commonly used testing methods for hypnotic susceptibility may conflate multiple constructs and decrease the probability of detecting susceptibility correlates. iii Acknowledgements I would like to begin by thanking Dr. Ethan Gahtan for not only being my thesis supervisor, but also my mentor and friend. Dr. Gahtan is one of those remarkable people who can help you regain faith in humanity, or at least the scientific community, when you are surrounded by bad articles compounded with faulty statistics. Countless times when I was ready to throw away my ideas, scrap the project, and quit science, Gahtan has stood up for this project and me as a competent researcher. By providing me guidance as a supervisor, but also as someone who supports my ideas and believes in my success, Gahtan has facilitated an environment through which I was able to reach my full potential. Our relationship had started before we ever met, when I was desperate for an advisor and he was on sabbatical. Even though he was on his break, he still took the time to not only ease my worries, but also to ignite further determination and pride within myself. Gahtan has always been there when I needed him most and one of his best qualities is his heart. I will always remember the remarkable contributions – physically, emotionally, and financially – that Dr. Gahtan has made to this project and the exemplary role model of which to mirror in my future successes. Thanks for giving me someone to look up to! I would like to thank James Barnett and Sarai Escalante for helping me in my early phases of recruitment and data collection. I would like to thank Anthony Baker, Darrell Burlison, and Reginald Blackwell for their supervision in the genotyping biotechnology at the Core Facility here at HSU. iv I would like to thank Patrick Panelli, Sarah Stednitz, and Edwin Vazquez for their statistical expertise. I would like to thank Bruce Long for his detailed and dedicated editorial contributions. I would like to thank my committee members, Gregg Gold and Chris Aberson for their leniency on deadlines and their academic professionalism throughout this project. I would like to thank Cathy Maier, Mark Perry, Aleah Ames, Tim Simmerman, Maria-Elena Whaples, Kim Hall, my sister Kenzie Wannigman, and my father David Wannigman. It is because of these extraordinary people in my life that I made it Humboldt State University and studied hypnotherapy. I would like to thank my patient and remarkable partner Victoria Alexandria Brito for her support, humor, and confidence in my abilities – especially when I was recovering from a 14 fracture spinal injury during the early phases of this project. She has remained my pillar of stability and beam of inspiration throughout every frustrating setback. Thanks again for reminding me to eat during long-lost hours spent in “the worm hole”. I love you. Finally I’d like to pay tribute to the G.I. Bill. Without this remarkable opportunity to get my master’s degree after my service in the Air Force, these amazing investigations into the science of hypnosis, biology, neuroscience, and genetics might not have been possible. I am forever touched and blessed by these remarkable individuals. v Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iv Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... vi List of Tables ................................................................................................................... viii List of Figures .................................................................................................................... ix Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1 Literature review ..................................................................................................................2 Hypnosis ...........................................................................................................................2 Genetics ............................................................................................................................5 Serotonin ..........................................................................................................................7 COMT ............................................................................................................................12 Dopamine .......................................................................................................................14 COMT and Hypnosis .....................................................................................................16 Placebo ...........................................................................................................................19 Absorption ......................................................................................................................22 5HTTLPR and COMT Amygdala Interactions ..............................................................23 Statement of the Problem ...................................................................................................26 Method ...............................................................................................................................35 Participants .....................................................................................................................35 Instrumentation...............................................................................................................36 Procedure ........................................................................................................................37 Consent. ..................................................................................................................... 39 Effect Size. ................................................................................................................. 40 vi Genotyping .....................................................................................................................41 SERT. ........................................................................................................................ 42 COMT. ....................................................................................................................... 42 Data Analysis .................................................................................................................45 Results ................................................................................................................................46 Discussion ..........................................................................................................................53 SERT Results .................................................................................................................53 COMT Results................................................................................................................54 SERT
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