There are multiple schools of thought in the hypnotic community as to the function and effectiveness of spirals. Some claim that hypnotic spirals put people into trance. Others claim that they’re nothing more than focusing objects. Then there are people who say that they’re nothing more than vehicles for the placebo effect. Keeping in mind that each person experiences spirals in their own way, and that a spiral can be any of those, plus more, the actual scientific truth and explanation are much more complex. In this post, we’re going to explore the neuroscience behind hypnotic spirals and their many uses.
The Baseline – Visual Cortex
Simple Spirals – Predictable Focal Points
Spirals are a bit of a mechanical hack. Whether you want them to or not, they snare the eye and, by proxy, the occipital lobe, which is responsible for visual processing. Distilled, all this means is that spirals trigger a particular set of reactions in the brain, activating certain parts to a greater degree, leaving other parts with less energy to function. This will make sense soon, if it doesn’t already.
First, let’s focus on fixation and fatigue: When you stare at the center of a spiral, your eyes are locked in a fixed position, and as the rest of the spiral rotates, your optical nerve becomes fatigued. This can also happen outside of a spiral, of course. As your optical system tires, your brain undergoes a natural physiological reaction, where your nervous system forces your body to relax. Your eyes may get heavier, your muscles loose, and your thoughts more scattered. This also often happens when you read before bed and begin to feel yourself fall asleep even as you continue reading.
To put things in another way, when you allow your eyes to grow tired in this way, you trigger your parasympathetic nervous system, which in turn makes you feel relaxed and a bit sleepy, because the body thinks it’s time to rest and digest, which requires a different kind of energy than the energy you need to function during an active day.
This partly explains why simple, wordless spirals may relax you. It’s a bit more than just a placebo or a focal point. So, the next time you’re staring into a spiral and wondering whether it’s all in your head, be assured that it is not. There is science behind it.
And we’re just getting started, too.
Before we continue, fixed focal points aren’t required. The focal point doesn’t have to be right at the center and static. It just has to be predictable, so that your brain can familiarize itself with the pattern of the motion. A static focal point is just the most extreme end of the spectrum, because there is nothing to predict.
Then there is the motion aftereffect (MAE): Humans are very visual creatures. Our visual cortex is usually the very first filter through which we experience moments in life. Simple visuals can have tremendous effects. MAE is such an example. When you stare into a moving spiral which seems to either consistently expand or contract (this happens with nearly every hypnotic spiral in existence, some more than others), you exhaust the neurons in your brain responsible for detecting motion.
The more tired those neurons grow, the less able you are at processing motion, which can lead to various sensations of something like motion sickness (or actual motion sickness, for some). I’m sure you’ve noticed that some spirals are a bit “too much.” That after a few second, instead of relaxing you, it just makes you sick. This happens when the neurons in your brain aren’t able to keep up with the displayed motion and exhaust themselves quickly. How quickly and how badly depends on the spiral, your sensitivity to motion, and just how much exposure you’ve had to this sort of content. You can train your neurons to better detect and process motion, but there are limits.
But back on point, when you’re watching a spiral which hits just right, without completely exhausting your motion detection right at the start, you may feel a sensation of falling or sinking. This isn’t a placebo either. It can actually feel a lot like hypnotic trance, because many of us experience trance in just that way. We often associate the sensation of falling with hypnosis, and so when you feel something similar while gazing into a spiral, the brain makes the connection. The more often you do this, the more powerful that connection becomes, until you can get to a point where simply gazing into a spiral will begin to drop you.
So, if you’re open to it, simply watching a simple spiral may actually relax you, make you sleepy, loose, and trancy—all as a result of your body’s natural physiological responses to certain stimuli, without there needing to be an aspect of “belief” or placebo. Or even any conditioning. You’ve seen it done with reptiles and other mammals. Those whose brains work similarly to ours in this one facet.
Visuospatial Processing
Unpredictable Geometry – Drifting & Random Focal Points
We have your average spirals, with predictable focal points (usually right at the center), and then we have “spirals” that don’t adhere to that rule. We’ll call those geometric spirals, even if they don’t necessarily have to function as spirals. These are simple moving shapes with smooth, unpredictable motion. No words, no audio. Nothing more than shape. Watching a spiral of this kind doesn’t require your brain to process emotion, language, or logic. It’s just a visual hijack. These cannot be short, looped gifs, because those would introduce too much predictability. Instead, they’re either long videos or interactive apps.
How it works: Our brains use visuospatial processing to understand where we are in terms of our own localized bubble of space. It helps us assemble Lego, navigate roads, play certain video games, and even with simple things like cleaning the house. This uses memory, because without memory, we can’t do any of those things effectively. Specifically, it requires short-term memory. Unpredictable motion requires short-term memory as well. It requires visuospatial processing at the moment it’s happening.
Have you ever caught yourself being in a sort of trance as you game, clean, play sports, or study? Anything which is unpredictable and requires you to focus on where you are in space (not necessarily physically) puts you in an altered state of mind, where more or most of your attention and short-term memory is dedicated to accomplishing the task, because if you don’t know what’s coming next, you need to pay attention. If you lose focus as you cook something, there is a good chance you’ll burn something or hurt yourself.
The shift: When you focus on these unpredictable geometric shapes, you take away your brain’s need to process language, emotion, or logic. This makes it infinitely easier for your inner monologue to quiet down. It makes the inner voices quieter or even completely silent. It makes thoughts less pronounced. In cognitive psychology, your inner monologue is controlled by the phonological loop. By forcing your brain to dedicate all its processing power to unpredictable geometric visuals, you essentially starve the phonological loop of energy, hijacking the system and forcing the mind to go quiet.
Your brain quite literally shifts down from its normal Beta waves (logic, emotion, anxiety, activity, alertness) down to Alpha waves (relaxation, passiveness, flow, focus, restfulness). It’s very much like meditation. Like mindfulness. Alpha waves only really occur while you’re relaxed and awake, which may be why spirals like this don’t make us sleepy, unlike the predictable spirals of the previous section.
There is nothing special about the geometric spirals we’ve discussed here. There are a hundred other ways to achieve the same sort of Beta-to-Alpha shift, with things like EMDR therapy, fractals, and photic driving. But for those of us who have experience with hypnosis, spirals offer a sort of shortcut. Once more, there is science driving the effectiveness of this type of spiral as well. There is science behind fractals more significant than that they’re “cool.”
The Role of Spirals in Hypnotic Conditioning
Combining Spirals, Text, & Audio
So, we have the main ways that simple spirals may affect the brain. Even without actual hypnosis added to the mix, they’re already quite powerful, wouldn’t you agree? So, what about all those hypnotic spirals with words and with audio?
Predictable spirals: When you choose to gaze into a spiral with a fixed center or predictable focal point, as described in the first section, you tire out a specific part of your brain and power down your nervous system. This may put you in a less-aware state of mind all on its own. A relaxed, trancy state. If you allow it to, it most certainly will.
When this happens, your logic center slows down and cools down. Quite literally, starting at a simple spiral will, in a short amount of time, make your prefrontal cortex lethargic (unless you’re on alert, of course). With fewer logic filters in place, even simple text suggestions have a higher chance of working and becoming internalized in some way. It doesn’t take much to make us more suggestible, as most of you can attest.
This is actually very similar to how much of advertising works. They push specially designed visuals at us so that our logical filters can power down, and then they slide clever suggestions right into our brains. You know that can of Coke you sometimes spot while watching a movie? People tend to think that it’s just exposure, because continued exposure to something does keep it fresh in our brains, so that when we have a choice of soda, the one that’s been more prevalent in your life recently is the one more likely to be chosen.
But… there is a whole other mechanism at work here as well. Sometimes, product placement is more about timing than exposure. A single, well-placed ad can have a bigger impact than ten instances of basic product placement. Different scenes and different visuals put the mind in different states of mind. For an ad to be truly effective, the product advertised has to come at just the right time. So, if someone were advertising weapons, the best state of mind to put the potential customer would be a state of anger, protectiveness, or righteousness. That’s when the connection is really made and stays inside the mind for a very long time without reinforcement.
But hypnotic spirals put the mind into a relaxed state of mind. A more suggestible state of mind. With reduced logic, reduced thought. It’s not quite as effective as putting the subject in a particular state of mind. Well, that’s where words come into the picture.
Combined, the spiral and the words aim to introduce a specific mindset. A mindset receptive to whatever is being suggested, powered by the suggestions themselves. It’s self-reinforcing and very powerful, if the right conditions are met. A bimbo-themed spiral may put you in a state of mind where you wish to think less (because otherwise, why would you have clicked on it?), and the words coming at you suggest that being blank feels good, which creates the perfect loop, bypassing logic entirely. This is why simple hypnotic spirals don’t require inductions and can be even more effective at changing your state of mind than an hour-long audio session. It’s all very subjective, of course! It’s kind of like targeted advertising, except it’s being conducted by your own mind. Isn’t that fun?
When you add pure sound to the equation, like binaural beats or isochronic tones, things get a bit more complicated in terms of science. There is no established conclusion in science to support that either of those have actual, physical influence on the brain. There are claims that, for example, binaural beats can sync the brain to their chosen frequency, but there are very many more studies which find no such link. As things stand, there is evidence in both directions, but since it’s not conclusive, we won’t be addressing that side of sound. Most evidence points to this being a placebo.
Instead, let’s focus on what the entire field of ambient sound does to the brain (including binaural beats, isochronic tones, white noise, and ambient music).
Our brains are almost always on the lookout for sudden, unpredictable noises. It’s how it keeps us safe from threats. We wouldn’t be here as a species without this feature. So, if you’re trying to relax, hearing random noises keeps us from fully letting go. The amygdala won’t allow it, because letting go means we aren’t prepared to deal with threats.
This is where ambient, predictable soundscapes come in. It’s called sound masking, and it’s used all across the globe for a multitude of functions. By adding an inconspicuous background track to the session (whether it’s a spiral or just an audio), you give the brain a sense of security, because it’s predictable enough and masks other, random noises which could activate your amygdala’s desire to deal with threats.
It works much the same as a white noise machine does in sleep aid. It’s stable, safe, secure, and predictable. Your brain has no reason to keep listening for threats if no unknown sounds come. After a while, it allows you to relax.
Additionally, just as spirals occupy your optical nerves, sound can occupy your auditory processing. With no language to process, your logic never comes into place, so your inner monologue (or general thoughts) has even less to chew on. It keeps the brain occupied and focused, preventing it from wandering (usually). If you combine a pure spiral with some binaural beats, you’re occupying enough of your brain that you may just drop without a single suggestion being muttered, but only if you allow it to happen. Be certain that your brain most certainly wants it.
Finally, voice. With your optical and auditory processing completely occupied, you’re already so very relaxed, your eyes perhaps a bit heavy, your muscles loose… a voice can slip right in without resistance. It’s no threat. If you’re relaxed enough, you already have no inner monologue, but even if you do, any voice you hear in this state has a very high chance of replacing it completely. No logic, no processing. Just the voice melding with your inner-most thoughts.
Just to be clear, different people will react in different ways, but with just a little bit of prodding, anybody can be influenced in this way. The brain wants this. It craves to relax and let go, because it can’t do so all day long. If you give it the chance, it’ll take you up on it without thought. Some people may struggle a lot more than others, but we’re all capable of the feat, in the end, with enough effort and time.
Geometric spirals: Combining unpredictable spirals with words and audio works in a much different way.
The goal here is to overload the brain, redlining its processes, so that suggestions can bypass all walls. It’s less surgical and more chaotic, but can be just as effective. There isn’t nearly as much to explain here as there was in the previous section, because the process here is really simple.
The unpredictable movement of shapes will shift your brain down to Alpha state and quiet down your prefrontal cortex, which allows suggestions (whether they’re words on the screen or a voice in your ears) to bypass your logical filters. With this method, you can keep adding visuals and sounds to distract your logic centers, so that suggestions become noise as well, slipping right in as if they weren’t even there. It’s a huge spectrum, however. It can work just as well with a few words, a few sounds, and a single dot moving from left to right and then back again (so long as it’s completely unpredictable).
However, how voice suggestions function here does differ slightly, because the voice doesn’t so much guide you as it does anchor you. With so much of your brain distracted, it looks for anything to anchor itself to, because chaos isn’t usually a welcomed state of mind. If we give you a voice to listen to, the brain will focus solely on that and will treat it like a lifeline.
Here, you are basically being overwhelmed until there are only the suggestions driving deep into your mind. But, again, to various degrees, and some brains require much more and some less.
Conclusive Thoughts
Now, it doesn’t have to be said that different methods work for different people. Spirals in general may just not work on some people for one reason or another, but the mechanism behind how they work is established science. There is nothing really all that special about them, so there is no reason why they couldn’t work for everyone, even if they may not be uniformly effective all across the board. This applies to both types of spirals described here.
In most cases, spirals are reserved for uncomplex suggestions and concepts, unless they’re part of a bigger whole. On their own, spirals, even with written words, don’t quite have the same oomph as longer audios, because they’re basically distilled versions of sessions. They can still be very relaxing and very fun, but they’re less effective at installing complex conditioning.
Most people also have trouble dropping to their fullest depth with their eyes open, so for most, it’s a choice between keeping their eyes open as they listen and resist dropping all the way, or give in and close them. In any case, there is no wrong way to go about this. There is no wrong combination of spiral/words/audio. Explore it all! Find the right combination for you!
It’s quite indisputable, however, that even simple spirals can act as a quick method of calming the nervous system down, flushing the mind of harmful thought loops, and helping relax you. Give it a try! Oftentimes, the more we know about how something works, the more effective it is!
Good luck!