Neural Mechanisms of the Out-of-Body Experience

Out-of-body impressions — e.g., during near-death experiences — have attracted popular interest. Individuals have described a sense of leaving the body and floating above it. Clinically, some epilepsy and migraine patients have experienced the self separated from the body (disembodiment). When a patient spontaneously reported out-of-body experiences after stimulation with electrodes implanted in the secondary auditory cortex (to treat severe intractable tinnitus), researchers decided to learn more about the phenomenon. They tried to evoke the experience with 70-second stimulation at various frequencies, modulations (tonic vs. burstlike), and intensities.

Only stimulation at 3.7 V in 40-Hz burst mode repeated 40 times a second with 1-ms inter…