Reports of out-of-body experiences vary greatly. From a fleeting sensation that the body and mind are free, to a sensation of floating away from the physical body. Out-of-body experiences have fascinated humanity for centuries, moving between spiritual belief and mythology. Fortunately for a few years, science has paid more serious attention to this field. We explore what science knows so far.
When do these out-of-body experiences occur?
Science has divided them into two categories: spontaneous and induced experiences. The first appear just before falling asleep asleep or just before waking up, that is, associated with sleep. They are more likely to occur when sleep is not very deep. There have also been cases of spontaneous out-of-body experiences after or during extreme physical exertion, as well as near death moments or in the practice of meditation.
From a scientific point of view, induced out-of-body experiences offer clearer insight on the physical basis . These can be caused by drugs (hallucinogenic and dissociative like LSD or ketamine); sensory deprivation (too little sensory information as in a flotation tank or quite the opposite, an excess of sensory information; excessive G-force (pilots and astronauts often experience these, since when the body is exposed to extreme G-force, the blood can be partially drained of certain parts of the brain, which can induce an out-of-body experience).
In this case, the out-of-body experiences occur as part of a phenomenon called “gravity-induced loss of consciousness.”
Not only extreme G-force can generate these experiences in pilots. Also during standard flights, pilots can endure strange sensory experiences, which are called ‘spatial disorientation’. Spatial disorientation is considered one of the most common factors that contribute to aviation accidents.
Perception verification
Perhaps the most controversial aspect of out-of-body experiences is truthful perception, in which the viewer feels that they are able to literally float out of their body and witness something or see someone that they could not have seen otherwise. Like the case of a brain surgery patient who underwent an incredibly invasive operation to remove a tumor, Pam Reynolds. After surgery, she was able to describe aspects of the surgical procedure during a time when she was clinically dead. Reynolds claimed to have seen the scene during an out-of-body experience.
Although skepticism abounds, advocates of life after death have repeatedly used this story as “evidence” for the ability to float beyond the body. For now, they are nothing more than unverifiable stories.
Scientific studies
The 2014 AWARE study was the first large-scale serious scientific investigation to examine near-death experiences and addressed the possibility of truthful perception during an out-of-body experience.
The investigation involved multiple hospitals and hundreds of interviews were conducted with cardiac arrest survivors. Although there were only two true out-of-body experiences during the study, neither of them could be accurately linked. The next phase of the study will be AWARE II. This second phase is a two-year observational study with 900-1500 patients. “The study will open the door to further investigation into what happens when we die,” writes Jerry Nolan, Editor-in-Chief of the Resuscitation Journal.
The role of the brain
The temporoparietal junction is the area of the brain that is activated when we make a moral value judgment about the behavior of other people, for example. Likewise, this small corner of the brain acts as an excellent nucleus of information between various regions of our brain , since it integrates information from the external environment, as well as from within the body, hence it can be a key element in out-of-body experiences.
Our personalities, emotions, memories and desires are little more than peaks and valleys in the energy levels and surges of chemicals in our body, we know this, but our brain does not normally allow us to feel it.
Could our brain then manufacture an out-of-body experience?
References:
First Out-of-body Experience Induced In Laboratory Setting. University College London. 2007
An overview of spatial disorientation as a factor in aviation accidents and incidents. David G. Newman MB, BS, DAvMed, PhD, MRAeS, FAICD, AFAIM Consultant in Aviation Medicine Flight Medicine Systems Pt.
AWARE-AWAreness during REsuscitation-a prospective study. Resuscitation. doi: 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2014.09.004. Epub 2014 Oct 7.
