OOBs Explained?
Out-of-body experience clues may hide in mind
Scientists: Misfiring brain behind bizarre sensation
By Marsha Walton (CNN)
(CNN) -- Over the years, many people have described having "out-of-
body" experiences, but there's not much solid scientific data on what
causes them. Now, a chance event may shed some light on what produces
the feeling.
Neurology researchers in Switzerland report the case of a woman who
described "floating above her own body and watching herself" while
she was undergoing testing and treatment for epilepsy. The strange
experience only occurred when one particular part of her brain, the
angular gyrus in the right cortex, was stimulated with an electrode.
And it happened every time the angular gyrus was stimulated.
"Of course it was a big surprise when she told us," said Dr. Olaf
Blanke, a neurologist at Geneva University Hospital, and author of
the findings in this week's edition of the British journal Nature.
"You hear strange reports sometimes, but in five or six years of
doing this I've never gotten that sort of response before," said
Blanke.
He says the patient wasn't really frightened, but she did say it was
a very strange sensation.
Blanke said it would have been difficult for the patient to fake such
an experience. She had up to 100 electrodes implanted in her brain
for these sessions, and had no idea which electrode would be
stimulated, or when. The stimulations each took 2 seconds or less.
At other times during the same session, Blanke said, the patient
screamed, because she "saw" her legs shortening, and "saw" her knees
about to hit her face.
Electrodes and brain 'mapping'
The unidentified 43-year-old patient had suffered from epileptic
seizures for 11 years. Doctors were using electrodes to try to
pinpoint the origin of her seizures. Such brain "mapping" is also
used to help doctors identify critical areas of the brain, like those
responsible for speech or movement, so they aren't damaged during
surgery.
While the electrodes are implanted under full anesthesia, patients
are fully awake during the testing procedure, so their comfort,
language skills, and responses can be constantly monitored.
Lots of people try to explain something away which is for many
people, an amazing experience that has transformed their lives. I
hope we can add some precise neuroscience and try to collaborate with
people in many fields.
This case is a little unusual for researchers, since the out-of-body
experience was a surprise to both the patient and the doctors. Since
nothing was planned, as it would have been in standard research,
there were no control groups or other measures, like perhaps
videotaping the session.
Others in the field say these serendipitous findings sound plausible,
and intriguing for further study.
"It does fit in with a body of work on how we perceive our bodies and
space," said Dr. Barry Gordon, professor of neurology at Johns
Hopkins Medical Institutions.
He says similar descriptions have come from other people with
epilepsy, and from stroke victims and others who have had seizures.
This region of the brain may also tie in to the well-documented
descriptions of "phantom limbs" by amputees.
"Our brains are not built the way we think; the inner mind is more
bizarrely constructed than we might think," said Gordon.
As an example, Gordon said, when you look at an apple, you might see
red and round and shiny and think of the word, "apple." But the brain
may see the red in one place, the round and shiny in another, and
process the word "apple" in yet another. We count on our brains to
sort it all out and combine it into something we understand, he said.
An out-of-body experience may be a slight disconnect or misfiring of
the processing of information. And, said both Blanke and Gordon, the
trauma of having electrodes implanted in one's skull, plus the fear
and uncertainty that go along with a complex clinical procedure,
could possibly help trigger such a misfiring of information, such as
the case of the Geneva patient.
"Sometimes patients describe looking down on their own bodies, and
that experience is actually an aura or a warning that a seizure is
about to occur," said Dr. Cindy Kubu, a neuropsychologist at the
Cleveland Clinic Foundation. She has worked with patients with
epilepsy for more than a decade.
She said some patients see lights flashing, others see cartoon
characters, others have feelings of deja vu, or its opposite, jamais
vu (when what is really a very familiar experience seems to be
happening for the first time). All of these events can be precursors
to a seizure.
Neuroscience and the paranormal
The angular gyrus is a complex part of the brain, responsible for
things like body and space awareness, and logical sequencing.
If something is awry there, said Kubu, a patient might put on his
pants first, and then his underwear, and not understand that there's
a problem. Or the patient might feel like a hand or arm is not
connected to the rest of the body, and he can't make it function.
The next step in learning more about out-of-body experiences will
likely be efforts to try and replicate the results in other patients
who agree to take part in such tests.
"This is fun, fascinating stuff," said Kubu. "And it could help our
patients get better," she said.
As for Blanke's patient in Geneva, she is doing much better, he says,
and her seizures are under control.
Dr. Blanke is hopeful that many different experts will be able to
work together in using this unexpected information from his patient.
He says there's even some value in what's often viewed as
the "paranormal."
"Lots of people try to explain something away which is for many
people, an amazing experience that has transformed their lives. I
hope we can add some precise neuroscience and try to collaborate with
people in many fields," said Blanke.