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Roughly one in 20 to one in 10 people claim to have had an out-of-body experience at least once in their life. If you've never had one, you may have a hard time understanding what it's like. You may be inclined to think that the person who experienced it simply imagined it.
To be fair, of course, that's what happened. It's an out-of-body experience, where you imagine yourself outside your body. However, some people believe it's literal, that their consciousness or soul actually leaves their body, and they can look down on themselves and travel through some kind of spiritual world.
So, whether it's just in your head or your consciousness actually leaves your body, something definitely happens when people experience these sensations. Let's take a closer look and find out what it means to have an out-of-body experience.
What happens during an out-of-body experience?
Simply put, an out-of-body experience is exactly what its name implies. It's the sensation that you, your mind, your soul—however you define "you"—have left your body. You're still conscious and aware of what's happening, but there's a disconnect between your physical state and this mental awareness.
There are no definitively confirmed cases of out-of-body experiences. Given their rarity and our inability to scientifically document or understand such phenomena beyond monitoring brain activity, we are left to rely on the descriptions of people who claim to have experienced them and what it was like.
Many describe seeing their body from a different perspective, as if they were outside themselves, perhaps floating. In one study of people who claimed to have had similar experiences in the past, most of those who reported spontaneous out-of-body experiences did not actually experience the sensation of floating.
Instead, they felt like they were somewhere else in the room, looking at themselves. But for others, those who experience induced out-of-body experiences, one of the key aspects is the feeling of being above themselves, weightless, and high above their actual location.
While there are different ways in which spontaneous and induced out-of-body experiences can occur, the key difference is that a spontaneous experience is unplanned, while an induced experience is one that is intentionally provoked. For example, a near-death experience might be spontaneous, while an induced experience might be something done in a laboratory for research purposes or through guided meditation.
Are they even real?
This question is harder to answer than it might seem. Firstly, there's little research on this phenomenon. And even the research that has been done is limited, because science can't track or measure it. How is that even possible? It's like studying what people see in their dreams.
However, there is very limited data on what people experienced during resuscitation from cardiac arrest when they should not have been conscious, and at least one person has reported their experiences in a way that could be independently and accurately confirmed.
Others who claimed to see themselves from above were unable to accurately identify the objects in the room with them at the time. Thus, some consciousness may certainly be present during a near-death experience. But this does not necessarily mean that any consciousness has left the body.
An out-of-body experience may be a form of depersonalization, a symptom of dissociative disorder.
The question of whether these people's experiences are real is somewhat more difficult to determine, given what constitutes real. If 10% of the population is experiencing out-of-body experiences, then something is certainly going on. They occur all over the world, in almost every culture, so it's not a phenomenon caused by something specific to one group of people. It's part of the human experience as a whole.
In terms of assessing whether something is actually happening or not, it can probably be viewed in the same way as hallucinations. Generally, we all agree that hallucinations are a phenomenon that people can experience. What they see in the hallucinations may not be real, but the hallucination itself is real. Similarly, someone experiencing an out-of-body experience actually experiences the sensation, even if we can't say with certainty that any part of their consciousness has literally left their body.
A 10-year-old boy once experienced an out-of-body experience while being hospitalized for epilepsy. An EEG and MRI were performed. Activity was noted in the right temporal lobe, as well as in the temporoparietal region, which we'll discuss later. This is one of the best examples ever obtained by scientists of actual evidence of an out-of-body experience and what happens in a person's consciousness during it.
What causes out-of-body experiences?
As might be expected, medications or drugs in general can be the primary cause of out-of-body experiences, but they are not the only one. There are also medical conditions that can lead to out-of-body experiences, including epilepsy and even migraines. Perhaps the most well-known cause of out-of-body experiences is near-death experiences.
Out-of-body experiences appear to be triggered by stimulation of certain areas of the brain, such as the anterior precuneus cortex. This part of the brain is typically responsible for things like spatial perception, balance, and how sensory information about your body is perceived. If you're in an unstable state of consciousness, such as after awakening from sleep or anesthesia, your awareness of your body and these sensations may be disrupted.
Other studies suggest a link to damage to the temporoparietal region of the brain, which may contribute to out-of-body experiences in some people. This part of the brain is divided into two hemispheres and is involved in several cognitive functions, including self-awareness. It is also responsible for the formation of what's known as a body schema. Think of this as the way your brain updates information about your location and actions 24/7, in real time.
Under normal circumstances, this is simply necessary for navigating the world. You need to understand where each part of your body is relative to the surrounding world, otherwise how would you even be able to get from here to the toilet?
It's also important to note that this part of the brain plays a key role in shaping your self-perception. It's not just about how we look physically, although that's an important part. How you perceive your appearance is determined by this part of the brain, and how you understand yourself based on your memories and feelings is also linked to this part of the brain.
While your brain is entirely responsible for your identity, this particular area, located between the parietal and temporal lobes, is closely linked to understanding who you truly are. This is why it is so important for out-of-body experiences.
Similar studies have concluded that these sensations are "associated with impaired integration of proprioceptive, tactile, and visual information about one's own body.".
Is there any meaning to out-of-body experiences?
Since out-of-body experiences are observed in the healthy population, the question arises whether there is any meaning or even benefit to this beyond novelty. As for the anterior precuneus cortex, this could have far-reaching and very beneficial implications for everyone else.
While studying the connection between this part of the brain and out-of-body experiences, we discovered that stimulation of the anterior precuneus cortex can have an effect similar to that of ketamine. It is hoped that in the future, this could be used as a new type of anesthetic for people undergoing surgery or other procedures.
If direct electrical stimulation of this part of the brain can mimic the effects of chemical anesthesia, many of the side effects we currently associate with anesthesia could be limited or eliminated. In the long term, this could potentially save lives.
How Changing Your Perception Affects Your Consciousness
In one study of epilepsy patients, electrodes were applied to the anterior precuneus cortex. During stimulation, all patients reported experiencing some dissociative elements associated with out-of-body experiences, further confirming the direct link between this brain region and epilepsy.
Researchers also found that this sense of self is easily manipulated, much more easily than they expected. Stimulation can induce a sense of dissociation in seconds, if not less.
There are other interesting ways to achieve the same effect and change your self-perception. One very strange experiment involves filming yourself from behind. If you were sitting on a chair, with two cameras pointed at your back and the image from these cameras transmitted to glasses on your face, you could recreate everyone else's experience. The left camera should transmit the image to your left eye, the right camera to your right.
Ask someone to massage your breasts, and then, out of camera view, perform similar stimulation. Soon, you'll feel as if your mind, your consciousness, is behind you, watching you from where the cameras are located, rather than from inside your own body.
An easier experiment to conduct doesn't involve an out-of-body experience, and all you need is two mirrors. Place them opposite each other, then lean between them so that only two-thirds of your face is visible. Scratch your cheek and look at your reflection. Not the first reflection, but the third, third reflection of your face. This may not work for everyone, and it's best done in dim light, but there's a good chance you'll soon stop recognizing yourself in this reflection.
Both of these experiments play on your brain's ability to perceive itself. They're not exactly out-of-body experiences, but they touch on some of the same ideas, and, as a bonus, you can remain fully conscious while trying them.
These illusions, especially those involving the camera, demonstrated that our brain's ability to understand our self-awareness and consciousness depends largely on how it processes external data and sensations. You can trick your brain into thinking you're in a different place by presenting it with sufficiently convincing illusions.
Other experiments using virtual reality and even mannequins have proven that it's possible to trick a person into thinking they're in another room, which is indeed the case. Such states are known as induced out-of-body experiences, which can also be induced by hypnosis, meditation, visualization, and sometimes drugs.
Ultimately, we still know very little about out-of-body experiences. Available scientific evidence suggests that what you experience is more akin to a hallucination than a genuine spiritual event, although some people who have experienced them are very confident in their reality. However, whether you physically leave your body or not, your brain produces these sensations, and your perception of reality is significantly altered—and, you know, that's pretty cool.
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