Experts and historical archivists highlight Braid's unique contribution to the transition from occultism to medicine:

Braid debunked the idea that a "magnetic fluid" passed from the operator to the patient.

Braid’s work focused on the physical and psychological mechanisms that induce a hypnotic state:

He recognized that the hypnotic state is dependent on the subject’s mind, not the operator’s power. Key Historical & Scientific Impacts

Initially, Braid believed the state was caused by physical fatigue of the eyes and nervous system from fixed staring.

James Braid | Health and Medicine | Research Starters - EBSCO

James Braid’s seminal work, Neurypnology; or, the Rationale of Nervous Sleep (1843), is considered the foundational text of modern hypnotism. In it, Braid moved the field away from the mystical "animal magnetism" of Franz Mesmer toward a physiological and scientific understanding of trance as a state of "nervous sleep". Core Principles of Neurypnology

His methods significantly influenced French pioneers like Charcot and Bernheim, whose work later shaped the theories of Sigmund Freud . Community Perspectives