Scientists recreate out-of-body experiences in lab

THEY are normally associated with the paranormal, shamans, and hallucinogenic drugs, but scientists yesterday showed out-of-body experiences (OBEs) can be induced in the laboratory.

Two separate teams of researchers used “virtual reality” techniques to create the illusion in volunteers for the first time.

By mixing up sensory signals, they were able to trick participants into feeling as if they had left their bodies.

They suggest that a disconnection between brain circuits is all that is necessary to produce an OBE.

In future, manipulating the physical sense of “self” could lead to Star Trek-style “holodeck” video games.

It may also improve telemedicine, by helping surgeons operating remotely imagine that they are in the same room as their patients.

One experiment set up at University College London involved sitting a volunteer in front of two video cameras. The stereoscopic image from the cameras was fed into a pair of goggles worn by the subject that showed a 3D view of his or her back.

A researcher standing out of sight prodded the participant’s chest with a plastic rod. At the same time, the researcher moved another rod towards a point that coincided with the position of the “illusory” body the volunteer was seeing.

When this was done, volunteers experienced the sensation of sitting behind their physical body and looking at it from that location.

“This was a bizarre, fascinating experience for the participants,” said neuroscientist Dr Henrik Ehrsson, who devised the study.

To test the illusion further, Dr Ehrsson swung a hammer in front of the cameras so that it appeared to hit the region where the volunteers perceived themselves to be.

Electrodes attached to the volunteers’ fingers recorded changes in the conductivity of the skin that normally occur when registering a threat.