Human learning and memory depend on multiple cognitive systems
related to dissociable brain structures. These systems interact
not only in cooperative but also sometimes competitive ways in
optimizing performance. Previous studies showed that
manipulations reducing the engagement of frontal lobe-mediated
explicit attentional processes could lead to improved
performance in striatum-related procedural learning. In our
study, hypnosis was used as a tool to reduce the competition
between these 2 systems. We compared learning in hypnosis and in
the alert state and found that hypnosis boosted striatum-
dependent sequence learning. Since frontal lobe-dependent
processes are primarily affected by hypnosis, this finding
could be attributed to the disruption of the explicit
attentional processes. Our result sheds light not only on the
competitive nature of brain systems in cognitive processes but
also could have important implications for training and
rehabilitation programs, especially for developing new methods
to improve human learning and memory performance.
