Why People Have Out-of-Body Experiences

A new study links abnormalities in the inner ear to a predisposition for such sensations.

This Out-of-Body Experience Could Boost Your Brain

So what’s happening in the brain when you unintentionally start to act like an assigned character in a virtual reality, or when you wince in pain when your avatar gets poked? That’s what Olaf Blanke is working to understand.

You’ve had an out-of-body experience, but what kind?

Have you ever felt as though your sense of awareness was outside of your physical body? That you were looking back at yourself from another place in the same room? If so, you’ve probably had an out-of-body experience (OBE). But not all OBEs are the same. Research suggests OBEs are more common than one might think, with around 10% of the population having reported at least one such experience in their lifetime.

Are Out-of-Body and Near-Death Experiences Mystical or States of the Brain?

Some of the most impactful studies on out-of-body and near-death experiences were done by the U.S. Air Force when it purposefully induced the conditions on fighter pilots. The results of the experiments have shed light on how the brain functions during what have always been mysterious states of consciousness...

Ayahuasca: the shamanic brew that produces out-of-body experiences

Ayahuasca is most commonly consumed by indigenous communities in liquid form as part of shamanic rituals designed to communicate with celestial supernatural forces or the spirits of the forest. The psychotropic effects of the drink are caused by three beta-carboline alkaloids: harmine, harmoline and tetrahydroharmine. Owing to their ability to intensify and prolong this psychotropic effect, other natural substances such as tree barks and coca or tobacco leaves can also be combined with the vine.

Out-of Body Experiences and the Near-Death Experience

Imagine that you are a patient in a hospital and surgery is being performed on you. You are sound asleep. You were sound asleep long before they wheeled into the operating room. But while you are asleep something very strange happens.

Out-of-Body Experience Is Traced in the Brain

What happens in the brain when a person has an out-of-body experience? A team of scientists may now have an answer.

Scientists unlock mystery of out-of-body experiences (aka astral trips)

Some people claim that they have experienced out-of-body experiences—aka "astral trips"—floating outside of their bodies and watching themselves from the outside. A team of scientists found someone who says she can do this at will and put her into a brain scanner. What they discovered was surprisingly strange.

The Coming Technology of Out-of-Body Experiences

I have seen the future, and it almost works. With more powerful sensors and actuators, out-of-body experiences will become even more compelling. It is easy to imagine brilliantly attractive possibilities: immersive tourism to anywhere, anytime, without needing to leave home.

The Lessons of Out-of-Body Experiences

Powerful, unnerving hallucinations show there’s something malleable about the way our brains construct our sense of self.

The Woman Who Can Will Herself Out Of Her Body

Her experience, the scientists wrote, "really was a novel one." But just maybe, not as novel as previously thought. If you are capable of floating out of your body, don't keep it to yourself!