Out-of-body Research Articles

Commentary on: "The body social: an enactive approach to the self". A tool for merging bodily and social self in immobile individuals.

Commentary on: "The body social: an enactive approach to the self". A tool for merging bodily and social self in immobile individuals.

Sensory Isolation in Flotation Tanks: Altered States of Consciousness and Effects on Well-being

A qualitative analysis (The Empirical Phenomenological Psychological method) of interviews involving eight patients (depression, burn-out syndrome, and chronic pain) was carried out in order to obtain knowledge regarding the effects of flotation tank therapy. This knowledge might be helpful for both professionals and potential floaters. The analysis resulted in 21 categories, which were summarized as four themes: (a) experiences during flotation, (b) perceived effects afterwards, (c) technical details, and finally (d) the participants ́ background, motivation, and expectations. Floating was perceived as pleasant. An altered state of consciousness was induced, varying from a milder state including profound relaxation and altered time perception, to more powerful with perceptual changes and profound sensations such as out-o f-body experience s and perinatal experiences.

Phenomenology of extracorporeal perception: analysis of out-of-body experiences

espanolVarios autores senalan conceptos y las causas del fenomeno de Experiencias fuera del cuerpo (EFC). Este articulo tiene como objetivo describir y analizar el EFC de la experiencia de lo vivido, enumerando las diferentes experiencias llamadas EFC, comparandolos entre si y con el concepto cientifico de EFC, y la investigacion de los significados que se les da, asi como su papel en la vida cotidiana de aquellos que dicen practicarlas; con el fin de explorar la variedad de experiencias etiquetadas como EFC. Fueron entrevistados trece sujetos acerca de sus experiencias, creencias y consecuencia de la EFC. Se utilizo el analisis de contenido, la adopcion de Merleau-Ponty como el principal marco teorico para la interpretacion de los datos. Informes de EFC se dividieron en dos grupos: aquellos que tienen fe en la naturaleza espiritual de estos - y por lo tanto las experiencias reportadas con la presencia de los seres espirituales que les ayudaron - y los que desconfian de su percepcion - que eran escepticos y cuando en EFC, se quedaron en las habitaciones donde estaban fisicamente. Sin embargo, en ambos casos, la experiencia tuvo un papel importante en la comprension y ser en el mundo de tales sujetos, siendo utilizados como un afrontamiento para las cuestiones de las enfermedades cronicas, el riesgo de muerte; la falta de interes en la vida. EnglishSeveral authors point out concepts and causes for the phenomenon of Out of Body Experiences (OBE). This article aimed to describe and analyze the OBE from the experience of the lived, listing different experiences called EFC, comparing them with each other and with the scientific concept of OBE, and investigating the meanings given to them, and their role in everyday life of those who claim to practice them in order to explore the variety of experiences named as OBE. Thirteen people were interviewed about their experiences, beliefs and consequence of OBE in their lives. We used content analysis, adopting Merleau-Ponty as the main theoretical framework for the interpretation of data. Reports of OBE were divided into two groups: those who have belief in the spiritual nature of such experiences - and thus reported experiences with the presence of spiritual beings who helped them - and those distrustful of their perceptions - who were skeptical and when in OBE, remained in the rooms where they were physically. However, in both cases, the experience had an important role in the understanding and being in the world of the experient, and is used as coping for questions from chronic diseases; life-threatening; to the lack of interest in life. portuguesDiversos autores apontam conceitos e etiologias para o fenomeno de Experiencias Fora do Corpo (EFC). O presente artigo objetivou descrever e analisar as EFC a partir da experiencia do vivido, elencando diferentes experiencias denominadas EFC, comparando-as entre si e com o conceito cientifico de EFC, e investigando os sentidos dados a estas, bem como seu papel na vida cotidiana daqueles que alegam pratica-las, de modo a explorar as variedades de experiencias rotuladas como EFC. Treze sujeitos foram entrevistados quanto a suas experiencias, crencas e a consequencia das EFC em suas vidas. Utilizou-se a analise de conteudo, adotando Merleau-Ponty como principal referencial teorico para a interpretacao dos dados. Os relatos de EFC foram divididos em dois grupos: aqueles que tem conviccao da natureza espiritual destas - e que, assim, relataram experiencias com presenca de seres espirituais que os auxiliaram - e aqueles ressabiados de suas percepcoes - que se mantiveram ceticos e, quando em EFC, permaneceram nos comodos onde estavam fisicamente. Contudo, em ambos os casos, a experiencia possuia um papel importante no entendimento e no modo de ser no mundo de tais sujeitos, sendo utilizada como coping para questoes desde doencas cronicas, com risco de morte; ao desinteresse pela vida.

Death and consciousness--an overview of the mental and cognitive experience of death.

Advances in resuscitation science have indicated that, contrary to perception, death by cardiorespiratory criteria can no longer be considered a specific moment but rather a potentially reversible process that occurs after any severe illness or accident causes the heart, lungs, and brain to stop functioning. The resultant loss of vital signs of life (and life processes) is used to declare a specific time of death by physicians globally. When medical attempts are made to reverse this process, it is commonly referred to as cardiac arrest; however, when these attempts do not succeed or when attempts are not made, it is called death by cardiorespiratory criteria. Thus, biologically speaking, cardiac arrest and death by cardiorespiratory criteria are synonymous. While resuscitation science has provided novel opportunities to reverse death by cardiorespiratory criteria and treat the potentially devastating consequences of the resultant postresuscitation syndrome, it has also inadvertently provided intriguing insights into the likely mental and cognitive experience of death. Recollections reported by millions of people in relation to death, so-called out-of-body experiences (OBEs) or near-death experiences (NDEs), are often-discussed phenomena that are frequently considered hallucinatory or illusory in nature; however, objective studies on these experiences are limited. To date, many consistent themes corresponding to the likely experience of death have emerged, and studies have indicated that the scientifically imprecise terms of NDE and OBE may not be sufficient to describe the actual experience of death. While much remains to be discovered, the recalled experience surrounding death merits a genuine scientific investigation without prejudice.

Out of Body Experience Induced by Hypnotic Suggestion. Part 1: Phenomenology and Perceptual Characteristics.

The aim of this study is the investigation of the perceptual and cognitive characteristics of Out-of- Body Experiences (OBEs) induced by hypnotic induction. Five participants selected for their experience with hypnotic inductions were induced into an OBE and were requested to verbally describe six selected images, either one or two per session, that were located in two different rooms that were hundreds of kilometers from the place where they were under hypnosis. Furthermore, their real-time phenomenological experience was investigated with respect to the minimal phenomenal selfhood (MPS) and the similarities with the characteristics of spatial and temporal perception reported in near death experiences (NDEs). On average, the participants correctly identified 46.7% of the images, whereas two independent judges correctly identified 66.7% of them, compared to a probability of 25% expected due to chance. The phenomenology of their out-of-body perceptual and cognitive experiences revealed a general commonality among all participants. All participants reported a phenomenological experience of a disembodied personal selfhood able to perceive simply by an act of will without the physical limitation of eyesight, to move in the environment instantaneously and exist in a sort of three dimensional world with no awareness of time. The comparison among the first person verbal reports of our participants, a group who declared to have had spontaneous OBEs and a group declaring to have only read about OBEs, supports the hypothesis that the verbal reports of participants were due to real OBEs and not to their previous knowledge about OBE or to the hypnotist’s ones.

The body problem in the schizophrenia spectrum

Self-disturbances were central to Bleuler’s concept of schizophrenia. While explicit self-processing deficits have been reported in the schizophrenia-spectrum, phenomenological experiences of the self are poorly understood. Study 1 analyzed 82 First-Person-Accounts (FPAs), collected across three decades by coding for self/body disturbances with the Perceptual Aberration Scale. Study 2 investigated the role of self-disturbances including out-of-body experiences (OBE), in relation to social isolation and parietal functioning in the schizophrenia-spectrum. 55% of the FPAs reported anomalous self/body disturbances. Dissociative experiences were vastly increased in the schizophrenia-spectrum and were exacerbated by loneliness. Patients and high-schizotypes reported OBEs at 5 times the rate of controls. Interestingly, superior mental rotation ability was linked to a weakened sense of self. FPAs provide valuable insight into the phenomenological self-experiences. Self-disturbances, heightened by social isolation, may be central to the schizophrenia-spectrum. Lastly, the relationship between enhanced imagery and self-disturbances highlight the importance of the parietal regions in schizophrenia.

Out of Body Experience Induced by Hypnotic Suggestion. Part 2: How Many Bodies are Out There? News About the Subtle and Psychic Body.

The possibility to induce real Out of Body Experiences (OBEs) using hypnotic inductions, with the opportunity to interview participants during their experience, permits to investigate in depth the characteristics of different aspects of this particular state of consciousness from a first-person point of view.In a companion article, Tressoldi et al. (2014), investigated the accuracy of five selected participants’ perception of the images at distance, plus their phenomenological experience related to how they perceived and moved in this state of consciousness.In this paper, six selected participants report the description of another “body” we named “subtle body”, identified as an intermediate entity between the physical body and their “Self” or “I-identity” which was named “psychic body” and their relationships and characteristics.The “subtle body”, was described as a sort of white silvered cloud surrounding the physical body, with a particular enlargement of its hands and feet.As to its movement characteristics, everybody agreed that the “subtle body” could move quickly like flying from one place to another even if less easily than the “psychic body” and a vague sense of attrition was perceived when passing through walls.Similar to the “psychic body”, the “subtle” one too could move forward and backward in time even if they did not seem perceiving the sense of time.The “subtle body” was referred to be connected with the physical one by a sort of white brilliant link sometimes described like a silvered string more or less visible, whereas no visible links were identified between the “subtle body” and the “psychic” one.The “subtle body” existence was referred to be limited even if it was longer than that one of the physical body, differently from the existence of the “psychic body” which was reported as unlimited.These reports were compared with similar descriptions deriving from the Vedanta philosophy and Theosophical tradition.

The induction of the out-of-body experiences in the perspective of ‘looking down’ position.

The induction of the out-of-body experiences in the perspective of ‘looking down’ position.

Who am I in out of body experiences? Implications from OBEs for the explanandum of a theory of self-consciousness

Contemporary theories of self-consciousness typically begin by dividing experiences of the self into types, each requiring separate explanation. The stereotypical case of an out of body experience (OBE) may be seen to suggest a distinction between the sense of oneself as an experiencing subject, a mental entity, and a sense of oneself as an embodied person, a bodily entity. Point of view, in the sense of the place from which the subject seems to experience the world, in this case is tied to the sense of oneself as a mental entity and seems to be the ‘real’ self. Closer reading of reports, however, suggests a substantially more complicated picture. For example, the ‘real’ self that is experienced as separate from the body in an OBE is not necessarily experienced as disembodied. Subjects may experience themselves as having two bodies. In cases classed as heautoscopy there is considerable confusion regarding the apparent location of the experiencing subject; is it the ‘real mind’ in the body I seem to be looking out from, or is it in the body that I see? This suggests that visual point of view can dissociate from the experience of one’s own “real mind” or experience of self-identification. I provide a tripartite distinction between the sense of ownership, the sense of embodiment and the sense of subjectivity to better describe these experiences. The phenomenology of OBEs suggests that there are three distinct forms of self-consciousness which need to be explained.

Near-death experiences in central Asia

The article deals with pilot data of a study of Uzbek people, mainly clinical- death survivors, in regard to possible near-death experiences (NDE). Evaluation of the first 13 cases showed that there is no regular sequel of experiences in NDE. In the thirteen cases there were no reports of tunnel phenomena or of film-clip-like experiences. Instead, acoustic phenomena, visions of light, feelings, and out-ofbody experiences were most common. NDE are not stringently connected with clinical death, but also happened under a “normal” operation. Nor do they always appear in cases of clinical death and resuscitation. Also, NDE are influenced by one’s memories and cultural background. In conclusion, pilot data support the criticism that the term NDE is too broad, and demonstrate neuropsychological phenomena of multiple realizations of the same mental functions.

Clinical study of percutaneous transhepatic intrahepatic portosystemic shunt

To introduce an innovative procedure for portal hypertension with preliminary results and assess the technical feasibility and efficacy of portosystemic shunt creation through percutaneous transhepatic approach with its potential clinical significance. Between November 2009 and January 2011, 8 patients with complicated portal hypertension underwent percutaneous transhepatic intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (PTIPS). The severity of liver disease was Child's A (n = 2), Child's B (n = 3) and Child's C (n = 3). Under fluoroscopic guidance, portal vein (PV) was punctured with a 22-gauge Chiba needle. A 0.018-inch guidewire was advanced through the needle into PV lumen. The needle was exchanged and a 7-French sheath inserted over the wire. Then retrohepatic inferior vena cava (RIVC) or hepatic vein (HV) was punctured with a 20-gauge, 20-cm Chiba needle through sheath. Another 0.018-inch guidewire was advanced through the needle into right internal jugular vein and then snared out of body. A 0.035-inch, 260-cm-long stiff shaft wire was then introduced through the transjugular sheath and manipulated into main portal vein (MPV) and then into superior mesenteric vein (SMV). Afterward the PTIPS procedure was completed in the standard transjugular fashion. The procedure was technically successful in all patients. And effective portal decompression and free antegrade shunt flow were achieved. The mean portal pressure gradient decreased from 31.0 ± 4.3 to 18.9 ± 2.7 mm Hg before and after PTIPS creation respectively and the difference was significant statistically (P < 0.01). Among 8 patients, 1 developed hepatic coma and died after 5 days while the other 7 patients survived. The median follow-up period was 9 months (range: 2 - 20). Among 5 patients with PTIPS created for bleeding varices, no recurrent bleeding occurred during the follow-up period. For the patient with diffuse portal vein thrombosis, the clinical symptoms disappeared after PTIPS and computed tomography (CT) showed the shunt was occluded after 4 months. One patient with refractory ascites had a recurrence of abdominal distention after 2 months. There was a stenotic shunt on CT. Cure was achieved by replanting a stent in MPV. PTIPS is both safe and effective for the treatment of portal hypertension with exceptionally challenging anatomy. It is an available supplement for transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt.

Out of Bodies

Out of Bodies

P-1235 - Effect of cultural themes on forming cotard's syndrome; reporting a case of cotard's syndrome with depersonalization and out of body experience symptoms

Cotard's syndrome is a rare psychiatric syndrome, which is well- known since more than one hundred years. It's core symptom is nihilistic ideation or delusion. In this case report, the effect of culture on forming the symptoms of a female patient with Cotard's syndrome was the matter of concern. A single case with Cotard's syndrome associated with out of body experience and depersonalization and complicated grief was reported. she believed that she was killed by a superstitious creature named “Aal” in Persian folclor. Cultural and superstitious beliefs could effect on forming complex constellation of patients symptoms including Cotard's syndrome. The resolution of symptoms might be step by step.

How Should Therapists Respond to Client Accounts of Out-of-Body Experience?

During an out-of-body experience (OBE) a person experiences their center of consciousness from a spatial location that is distinctly different to their physical body. Prior research has suggested that psychologists and psychotherapists may be reluctant to discuss the content of their clients OBE accounts due to a lack of understanding about the nature of these experiences. Yet, other research has highlighted the substantial value of discussing OBEs in the therapeutic process. This paper examines the literature in order to assess the value of utilizing person-centered dialogue and guided visualisation as counselling approaches for working with clients who have had OBEs.

Combined Induction of Rubber-Hand Illusion and Out-of-Body Experiences

The emergence of self-consciousness depends on several processes: those of body ownership, attributing self-identity to the body, and those of self-location, localizing our sense of self. Studies of phenomena like the rubber-hand illusion (RHi) and out-of-body experience (OBE) investigate these processes, respectively for representations of a body-part and the full-body. It is supposed that RHi only target processes related to body-part representations, while OBE only relates to full-body representations. The fundamental question whether the body-part and the full-body illusions relate to each other is nevertheless insufficiently investigated. In search for a link between body-part and full-body illusions in the brain we developed a behavioral task combining adapted versions of the RHi and OBE. Furthermore, for the investigation of this putative link we investigated the role of sensory and motor cues. We established a spatial dissociation between visual and proprioceptive feedback of a hand perceived through virtual reality in rest or action. Two experimental measures were introduced: one for the body-part illusion, the proprioceptive drift of the perceived localization of the hand, and one for the full-body illusion, the shift in subjective-straight-ahead (SSA). In the rest and action conditions it was observed that the proprioceptive drift of the left hand and the shift in SSA toward the manipulation side are equivalent. The combined effect was dependent on the manipulation of the visual representation of body parts, rejecting any main or even modulatory role for relevant motor programs. Our study demonstrates for the first time that there is a systematic relationship between the body-part illusion and the full-body illusion, as shown by our measures. This suggests a link between the representations in the brain of a body-part and the full-body, and consequently a common mechanism underpinning both forms of ownership and self-location.

Psychoactive Substances and Paranormal Phenomena: A Comprehensive Review

This paper investigates the relationship between psychoactive substances and so-called paranormal phenomena falling within the study of parapsychology. It is primarily concerned with extrasensory perception (ESP)—telepathy, precognition, and clairvoyance—as well as out-of-body experiences (OBEs) and near-death experiences (NDEs). Psychokinesis (PK), aura vision, encounter experiences, and sleep paralysis only make a very limited contribution to this review as they are seldom related to psychoactive drugs within the parapsychological literature. The paper borrows widely, but by no means exhaustively, from parapsychology as well as transpersonal studies, anthropology, ethnobotany, phytochemistry, psychiatry, psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, and neurobiology, particularly neurochemistry. It is organized into neurochemical models of paranormal experience (section 1), field reports of intentional and spontaneous phenomena incorporating anthropological, historical and clinical cases, and personal accounts (section 2), surveys of paranormal belief and experience (section 3), experimental research (section 4), and a methodological critique of the experimental research with recommendations for further work (section 5).

Evidence for elevated cortical hyperexcitability and its association with out-of-body experiences in the non-clinical population: New findings from a pattern-glare task

Individuals with no history of neurological or psychiatric illness can report hallucinatory Out-of-Body Experiences (OBEs) and display elevated scores on measures of temporal-lobe dysfunction (Braithwaite et al., 2011). However, all previous investigations of such biases in non-clinical populations are based on indirect questionnaire measures. Here we present the first empirical investigation that a non-clinical OBE group is subject to pattern-glare, possibly as a result of cortical hyperexcitability (Wilkins et al., 1984). Fifty-nine students at the University of Birmingham viewed a series of square-wave gratings with spatial frequencies of approximately .7, 3 and 11 cycles-per-degree, both black/white and of contrasting colours. The illusions and discomfort reported when viewing gratings with mid-range spatial frequency have been hypothesized to reflect cortical hyperexcitability (Wilkins, 1995; Huang et al., 2003). Participants also completed the Cardiff Anomalous Perception Scale (CAPS: Bell et al., 2006) which included experiential measures of disruptions in ‘Temporal-lobe Experience’. Participants who reported OBEs also reported significantly more visual illusions/distortions and significantly greater discomfort as a result of viewing the mid-frequency gratings. There were no such differences with respect to gratings with relatively lower or higher spatial frequency. The OBE group also produced significantly elevated scores on the CAPS measures of Temporal-lobe Experience, relative to controls. Collectively, the results are consistent with there being a neural ‘vulnerability’ in the cortices of individuals pre-disposed to some hallucinations, even in the non-clinical population.

Out-of-body experience: Master of illusion

Henrik Ehrsson uses mannequins, rubber arms and virtual reality to create body illusions, all in the name of neuroscience.

Jimmy’s Out-of-Body Experiences

Michael Bova reviews events that took place in the early 1970s when his cousin Jimmy confidentially reported spontaneous experiences involving unusual sensory awareness and altered states of consciousness which developed into the apparent anomalies of extra sensory perception and out-of-body experiences (OBEs). Bova describes Jimmy’s emotional duress of having spontaneous anomalies and includes Jimmy’s diary notations. In them we see how these events appeared as foreboding or alluding to mental instability as these strong experiences countered his usual ways of knowing himself and his world. Bova’s serendipitous involvement with two parapsychology research settings allowed him to access information that helped Jimmy understand his unusual experiences. As important as content (data from compiled reports of spontaneous OBEs, laboratory research and available books on OBEs) was, the context of a nonjudgmental trusting relationship supported Jimmy’s personal wellbeing and enrichment from these apparent anomalies. The author believes that his early work in parapsychology and exposure to parapsychological phenomena helped him to help Jimmy. This early work was as both a research assistant at Maimonides Medical Center’s Dream Laboratory and as a student healer in the Consciousness Research and Training Project, Inc. Both research groups were focused on the study of psi but they never let the pursuit of phenomenological investigations override humanistic values and transpersonal experiences of their subjects. The author also believes that forty years since that time, Jimmy maintains an appreciation of life and self identity that were enhanced by those early OBEs.

Models of the Out-of-Body Experience: A New Multi-Etiological Phenomenological Approach

This paper compares several models of out-of-body experience (OBE) leading a new proposed multi-etiological model. Broadly the unitary hypotheses propose several single broad causes and explanations, though each of these recognizes that any specific explanation may not be all encompassing. These are best divided into four groups: Psychological, Brain, Psychopathology, and Experiential. The psychological models of Blackmore (reality distortion), Palmer (body concept) and Irwin (absorption) are followed by the brain empirical descriptions of Penfield, Blanke, and the cerebral explanations of Persinger (vectorial hemsiphericity), Wettach (midbrain near-death experiences), and Nelson (REM-intrusion in near death experiences [NDEs]). Additionally, there is the psychopathological psychiatric perspective, plus the spontaneous and induced OBEs that occur in subjective paranormal experients, which appear phenomenologically quite different. OBE research has generally been based on single questions without detailed qualitative differentiation of the OBE. This creates the erroneous situation of potentially misinterpreting diverse experiences under a single etiological umbrella. Optimally, OBE evaluations require detailed screening for OBEs so that “like” is classified with “like” not “unlike.” The author motivates for a detailed phenomenological analysis model which could accommodate the multiplicity of causes and the different subpopulations. This shifts the model from the unitary etiological hypotheses to Neppe’s Multi-etiological Phenomenological Approach. Detailed phenomenological analyses may demonstrate separate distinct kinds of out-of-body experience and therefore ensure that OBEs are appropriately phenomenologically classified in the context of the population samples being examined. This approach facilitates analyzing form, content, circumstance, and predisposed populations using a predominantly biopsychofamiliosociocultural approach and differentiating five possible legitimate hypothetical groups: 1. subjective paranormal experience (SPE) out-of-body experiences, 2. OBEs in SPE- non-experients who may have psychological experiences, 3. seizure and brain linked OBEs, 4. psychopathology interpreted as OBEs, 5. the non-OBE population.