Facilitating unusual bodily experiences and out-of-body experiences across wakefulness and sleep: A high-density EEG and neurophenomenology study
Teresa Campillo-ferrer, Antonella Iadarola, Ramona Cordani, Marco Veneruso, Çağatay Demirel, Lino Nobili, Robert Oostenveld
Consciousness and Cognition February 11, 2026 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2026.104002 via OpenAlex
Summary
Unusual bodily experiences (UBEs) were reported by 20 out of 35 healthy participants during a study that used meditation and light stimulation in a sleep laboratory. These experiences occurred primarily during meditation, but also during sleep arousals and REM and non-REM sleep. EEG analyses indicated that UBEs are linked to specific brain activity patterns, with increased high-frequency activity and decreased low-frequency activity, particularly in the temporal regions. This research sheds light on the neural correlates of self-consciousness and body perception.
Study at a glance
| Design | observational study |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 35 |
| Population | healthy participants |
| Key finding | UBEs were associated with increased high-frequency EEG activity and decreased low-frequency activity, suggesting they emerge during intermediate states of consciousness. |
Abstract
Unusual bodily experiences (UBEs) are illusory bodily perceptions that are not coherent with typical wakeful experiences, including flying or floating sensations, body distortions, and out-of-body experiences. This study examines UBEs in a controlled sleep laboratory using meditation and light stimulation to facilitate their occurrence. A total of N = 35 healthy participants underwent high-density EEG, with additional EMG, EOG, and ECG recordings. Participants signalled UBEs by performing left-right-left-right eye movements, providing an objective marker for analysis. Interviews adapted from the micro-phenomenological technique were conducted to capture detailed subjective reports and to guide subsequent sleep and EEG analyses. Of the 35 participants, N = 20 reported a total of n = 36 UBEs, occurring primarily during meditation (wakefulness) but also during sleep arousals, rapid eye-movement (REM) sleep and non-REM sleep. Spectral EEG analyses and generalized linear mixed models were used to investigate the neural correlates of these experiences, suggesting that UBEs emerge during intermediate states of consciousness combining EEG features of both wakefulness and sleep. Specifically, exploratory EEG analyses showed that UBEs across sleep and wakefulness were associated with EEG reactivation, marked by increased high-frequency activity (beta and gamma) and decreased low-frequency activity (delta and theta), with a particularly pronounced effect around temporal regions. Collectively, these results provide novel insights into the EEG correlates associated with UBEs and contribute to a deeper understanding of self-consciousness and body perception across sleep and wakefulness.