Out of body experiences

A really interesting experiment reported in various places trigger the sensation of an [tag]out of body experience[/tag]. I read about it first in the New York Times: "Scientists induce Out-of-Body Sensation."

But here are some additional links about it:

• New Scientist: "Out-of-body experiences are 'all in the mind'"
• Ars Technica: "On-demand out-of-body-experiences: all you need are VR goggles and a stick"
• Mind Hacks: "Do try this at home".

Comments

[Nelson Abreu]

The above article mistakenly described the experiences produced by the research teams as out-of-body experiences. The journal Science and Science News (AAAS) describe that “this week's issue of Science, two teams of cognitive neuroscientists independently report methods for inducing elements of an out-of-body experience in healthy volunteers. “ The operating word is elements. The experiences reported by the volunteers have 3 elements of some out-of-body experiences but they were not in fact out-of-body experiences – a distinct state of consciousness and neurophysiology from the normal waking state.

The OBE is characterized by a visceral feeling of being embodied in a more subtle body away from the physical body itself, often with exotic "energetic," "take-off" and "re-interiorization" sensations. In the virtual reality experiment volunteers did not feel they were no longer present in their body and did not report these other characteristics of the OBE (significantly more numerous than the 3 selected by the researchers).

In an OBE, the individual is not always looking back at the physical body at a few feet of distance (although this can occur in some cases). OBE’s are not always a visual phenomena either, as there are OBE’s without sight and blind people may have OBE's. The majority of OBE’s also occur mainly when the eyes are closed and when the body is in a more vegetative state with brain wave patterns distinct from even lucid dreaming -- let alone the normal waking state of the volunteers.

Nelson Abreu
International Academy of Consciousness
Miami, United States