New research finds that having an out-of-body experience (OBE) may not, as many believe, be the result of some paranormal phenomenon. Doctors at the University of Geneva have found that by stimulating a brain region called the angular gyrus, they were able to reproduce the feeling of an OBE in two patients. One woman claimed that she felt as though she was looking down on herself from the ceiling; another reported feeling as though someone was watching her. Both women were being treated for epilepsy but neither had a history of psychiatric problems.
Researchers say that this proves OBEs and similar phenomena have logical--rather than supernatural--explanations. It also opens up a new understanding of the relation between a person’s body and their sense of “self.†“The research shows that the self can be detached from the body and can live a phantom existence on its own, as in an out-of-body experience, or it can be felt outside of personal space, as in a sense of a presence,†Dr. Brugger notes in The New York Times.
For more on the research:
- read this article from The New York Times.