The induction of reproducible out-of-body experience

Abstract

Our body perception generally expressed under the condition that the visual sense and the physical sense are spatially matched. On the other hand, even under specific conditions such that the vision and the body are spatially separated from each other, physical consciousness was often reported as the out- of-body experience (OBE). In other words, consciousness is often felt outside own body in the experience. In this study, we tried to induce and quantify OBE. In addition, virtual visual stimulation, tactile stimulation to the back, and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to the right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ) are synchronized to induce OBE. As a result, it was difficult to quantify the OBE objectively, however, in the multiple experiences, it was induced the feeling that we existed in a place apart from our own body, by synchronization of the virtual visual stimuli with bodily sensations such as tactile stimuli and TMS.