When is an Out-of-Body Experience (Not) an Out-of-Body Experience? Reflections about Out-of-Body Phenomena in Neuroscientific Research

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 13-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter F. Craffert
Keyword(s):  
Historical Record ◽  
Neural Mechanisms ◽  
Implicit Assumption ◽  
Body Experience ◽  
Out Of Body Experience ◽  
Body Experiences ◽  
Conceptual Problems ◽  
Real Progress

In recent years there has been an increased interest in the study of out-of-body experiences (obes) by cognitive and neuro-scientists. Nowadays, far-reaching claims regarding the uncovering of the neural mechanisms and pathways, as well as the mystery ofobes in the anthropological and historical record are on offer. In this article the implicit assumption thatobes are much better understood and that real progress has been made are questioned on the basis of the definitional and conceptual problems that still haunt this area of research. It is suggested that progress will only be registered once the spectrum of out-of-body phenomena (obp) is recognized and attention is paid to the neurocultural complexity of distinct instances ofobes.

Out-of-Body Experience Status as a Moderator of Effects of Narcissism on Paranormal Beliefs

1987 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 440-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerome J. Tobacyk ◽  
Thomas E. Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
College Students ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Body Experience ◽  
Paranormal Belief ◽  
Out Of Body Experience ◽  
Narcissistic Personality ◽  
Body Experiences ◽  
Paranormal Beliefs ◽  
Narcissistic Personality Inventory ◽  
Belief Scale

The Narcissistic Personality Inventory and the Paranormal Belief Scale were given to 383 college students. As hypothesized, significant but small direct correlations were obtained between narcissism and belief in Psi and in Precognition. When the sample was divided into those 56 who reported out-of-body experiences and 327 nonreporters, an interaction emerged. Among the former, narcissism showed significant moderate correlations with belief in Psi, Precognition, Witchcraft, and Superstition. Among the latter only one small significant relationship was found between narcissism and Precognition. These differential relationships between narcissism and paranormal beliefs for reporters and nonreporters of out-of-body experiences were interpreted in terms of schemata theory.

Out-of-Body Experience and Personality Functioning

1998 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. 481-482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerome J. Tobacyk ◽  
Donald H. Wells ◽  
Mark M. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Purpose In Life ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Control Scale ◽  
Body Experience ◽  
Personality Functioning ◽  
Out Of Body Experience ◽  
Body Experiences ◽  
Life Scale

Reporters of out-of-body experiences ( n = 21) and nonreporters ( n = 159) showed no significant differences on the Spheres of Control Scale, Self-efficacy Scale, and Purpose in Life Scale. However, reporters of out-of-body experiences showed significantly greater belief in Psi, Spiritualism, and Extraordinary Life Forms than nonreporters.

Six feet over: Out-of-body experiences and their relevance to the folk psychology of souls

2006 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 478-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Kemmerer ◽  
Rupa Gupta
Keyword(s):  
Multisensory Integration ◽  
Folk Psychology ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Experience ◽  
Out Of Body Experience ◽  
Body Experiences ◽  
The World

During an out-of-body experience (OBE), one sees the world and one's own body from an extracorporeal visuospatial perspective. OBEs reflect disturbances in brain systems dedicated to multisensory integration and self-processing. However, they have traditionally been interpreted as providing evidence for a soul that can depart the body after death. This mystical view is consistent with Bering's proposal that psychological immortality is the cognitive default.

scholarly journals Out-of-Body Experience induced by hypnotic suggestion: phenomenology and perceptual characteristics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrizio Tressoldi ◽  
Luciano Pederzoli
Keyword(s):  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Temporal Perception ◽  
Verbal Reports ◽  
Body Experience ◽  
Out Of Body Experience ◽  
Hypnotic Suggestion ◽  
Phenomenological Experience ◽  
Body Experiences ◽  
Perceptual Characteristics ◽  
Near Death Experiences

The aim of this study is the investigation of the perceptual and cognitive characteristics of Out-of- Body Experiences (OBEs) induced by hypnotic induction.Five participants selected for their experience with hypnotic inductions were induced into an OBE and were requested to verbally describe six selected images, either one or two per session, that were located in two different rooms that were hundreds of kilometers from the place where they were under hypnosis.Furthermore, their real-time phenomenological experience was investigated with respect to the minimal phenomenal selfhood (MPS) and the similarities with the characteristics of spatial and temporal perception reported in near death experiences (NDEs).On average, the participants correctly identified 46.7% of the images, whereas two independent judges correctly identified 66.7% of them, compared to a probability of 25% expected due to chance.The phenomenology of their out-of-body perceptual and cognitive experiences revealed a general commonality among all participants. All participants reported a phenomenological experience of a disembodied personal selfhood able to perceive simply by an act of will without the physical limitation of eyesight, to move in the environment instantaneously and exist in a sort of three dimensional world with no awareness of time.The validity of these first person verbal reports was discussed to determine whether they were due to real OBEs or to the participants’ or the hypnotist’s previous knowledge about OBE.

Inside insights: A phenomenology of interoception

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Drew Leder
Keyword(s):  
Conscious Awareness ◽  
Lived Body ◽  
The West ◽  
Body Experience ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Outer World ◽  
Body Experiences ◽  
Rational Thought ◽  
And Control

This chapter undertakes a phenomenology of inner-body experience, starting with a focus on visceral interoception. While highly personal, such experience also reveals a level of the lived body that is pre-personal, beyond our understanding and control. In contrast to exteroception, elements of the visceral field can be inaccessible, or surface only indistinctly and intermittently to conscious awareness. Nonetheless, interoception is more than just a series of such sensations. This chapter argues for the “exterior interior”—that is, we interpret inner body experiences through models drawn from the outer world, and interoception itself is bound up with emotion, purpose, and projects. In the West, we tend to valorize the interiority of rational thought; by contrast, experience of the inner body is a kind of “inferior interior,” often overlooked or overridden, yet inside insights—gained from attending to messages from the inner body—may preserve our health and wellbeing.

Near-Death and Other Transpersonal Experiences Occurring During Catastrophic Events

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 486-492 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madelaine Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
World War I ◽  
Vietnam War ◽  
Catastrophic Events ◽  
Body Experience ◽  
Loved One ◽  
Out Of Body Experience ◽  
Transpersonal Experiences ◽  
Death Experience ◽  
Seriously Ill Patients

The purpose of this article is to describe examples of near-death and other transpersonal experiences occurring during catastrophic events like floods, wars, bombings, and death camps. To date, researchers have limited their investigations of these transpersonal events to those occurring to seriously ill patients in hospitals, those dying from terminal illnesses, or to individuals experiencing a period of grief after the death of a loved one. Missing is awareness by first responders and emergency healthcare professionals about these transpersonal experiences and what to say to the individuals who have them. Some responders experience not only deaths of the victims they assist, but also deaths of their colleagues. Information about these transpersonal experiences can also be of comfort to them. The examples in this article include a near-death experience during the Vietnam War, an out-of-body experience after a bomb explosion during the Iraq War, a near-death visit to a woman imprisoned at Auschwitz, and two after-death communications, one from a person killed in Auschwitz and another from a soldier during World War I. Also included are interviews with two New York City policemen who were September 11, 2001 responders. It is hoped the information will provide knowledge of these experiences to those who care for those near death, or dying, or grieving because of catastrophic events, and encourage researchers to further investigate these experiences during disasters.

Out of Body Experience Induced by Hypnotic Suggestion. Part 1: Phenomenology and Perceptual Characteristics.

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrizio E. Tressoldi ◽  
Luciano Pederzoli ◽  
Patrizio Caini ◽  
Alessandro Ferrini ◽  
Simone Melloni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Experience ◽  
Out Of Body Experience ◽  
Hypnotic Suggestion ◽  
Perceptual Characteristics
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document