Researchers Recreate Out-of-Body Experiences

Researchers in England and Switzerland have just released their findings in a new study focused on revealing the brain mechanisms that make "out-of-body" experiences possible. The study shows that it is possible to trick the brain into thinking that its center of consciousness is located somewhere outside of the physical body into what is dubbed a "virtual body." In order to do this, subjects viewed head mounted video displays that projected images of the back of their bodies. Each eye received an image from a camera corresponding to the eye's physical place on the head, e.g. the right camera corresponds to the right eye. What researchers found is that this set up fooled the brain into thinking that the center of consciousness was located outside of the body, giving subjects the feeling that they were watching themselves from another location in the room.

This study is yet another example of science trying to prove that the brain is the sole center of existence for humans. Of course this study is by no means a smoking gun for scientists, but another layer added to what they see to be an ever-growing heap of evidence. The findings of this study and others that will be done like it will undoubtedly be used arguing against the spiritual validity of out-of-body experiences. Such experiences are often used by spiritualists and believers alike to prove the existence of the individual soul and its primacy in creating the awareness of human consciousness.