Ask Anything: Can You Hypnotize An Animal?
Puppy Eyes Rebecca Richardson/Getty Images Laboratory studies of “animal hypnosis” were fairly common in the 1970s and the 1980s. One paper defined its subject as “a state of prolonged, reversible immobility which is brought about by different types of sensory stimulation and is characterized by passivity and lack of responsiveness.” The researchers go on to give an easy method for producing this phenomenon: Just hold the animal in a fixed position on its back or on its side until it stops moving. When you release your grip, the animal will persist in a trancelike state, unresponsive to other stimuli and somewhat impervious to pain. This is not so much a case of animals being hypnotized as playing possum. Going limp while under threat makes predators lose interest and move on to other prey. “The name ‘animal hypnosis’ implies a lot...