14 DAY TRIAL // Scientists at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom have recently finished conducting a new investigation on out-of-body experiences (OBE). Their results provide a deeper insight into the neurological causes that underly this type of event.
The phenomenon itself is very well-documented. Past studies revealed that the manifestation can usually be associated with conditions such as epilepsy, psychopathology and migraines. However, OBE are not limited to sick individuals.
In fact, there is a relatively high incidence of such experiences in healthy and psychologically normal individuals, which is quite baffling for researchers. The new research effort was meant to distinguish what was happening in the brains of these people during OBE.
One of the things that researchers admit from the get-go is that there is still a lot science doesn't know about these phenomena. However, the investigation did provide some insights into the areas of the brain that are involved in underlying it.
Errors in the body's sense of self are the primary reason why these experiences occur. Another factor that contributes to their development is the presence of neural instabilities in the temporal lobe of the human brain, PsychCentral reports.
University of Birmingham neuropsychologist Dr. Jason Braithwaite, the leader of the research effort, coordinated his team to study and compare a group of people predisposed to experiencing OBE against individuals with no such propensities.
On average, the people who went through these experiences reported feeling more of a particular type of feeling. These are known to be correlated with neuroelectrical anomalies in the temporal lobes.
Details of the new work were published in the July issue of the esteemed medical journal Cortex. The team explains that people who experienced OBE were very likely to fail at a test that required them to adopt the perspective of an objects shown on a computer screen.
This perturbations in neuroelectrical activity inside the brain can also be detected in non-clinical, healthy individuals as well. While the new study does not settle the ongoing debate on the nature of OBE, it does provide an interesting new perspective on the matter.