International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis
January 2, 2019
Enrico Facco, Edoardo Casiglia, Benedikt Emanuel Al Khafaji et al.
38 citations
Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) induced through hypnosis provide a controlled way to study the phenomenon. In 15 highly hypnotizable people, OBEs were evoked either as an imaginative task while resting or under hypnosis. Brain activity was recorded with EEG, and participants completed a questionnaire about their experience. The hypnotic OBEs produced stronger feelings of altered state, positive affect, and focused attention, along with decreased beta and gamma brainwave power in the right parieto-temporal region. These findings suggest that hypnotically induced OBEs can serve as a useful experimental model for spontaneous out-of-body experiences.
Journal of Anomalous Experience and Cognition
December 30, 2022
Patrizio Tressoldi, Lance Storm
12 citations
A review of 11 meta-analyses on anomalous cognition, covering over 80 years of research, indicates that such phenomena appear possible. Effect sizes are larger when studies use non-ordinary or altered states of consciousness (e.g., dreaming, ganzfeld), free-response procedures, or neurophysiological dependent variables. These conditions seem to facilitate a form of cognition not constrained by known biological sensory or brain limits. The findings broaden understanding of the mind-brain relationship and the nature of the human mind.
Enrico Facco, Edoardo Casiglia, Benedikt Emanuel Al Khafaji et al.
preprint
Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) induced through hypnosis (H-OBEs) produce stronger phenomenological changes than those induced through imagination alone. In 15 highly hypnotizable participants, H-OBEs led to significantly higher scores on the Altered State, Positive Affect, Altered Experience, and Attention subdimensions of the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory, alongside a decrease in beta and gamma band power in right parieto-temporal brain regions. These findings suggest that hypnotically induced OBEs may serve as a useful model for studying genuine OBEs, involving altered multisensory integration in right parieto-temporal areas.
Patrizio Tressoldi, Fabio Mattiussi
preprint
Long-term meditators with at least five years of daily practice described their most profound meditative experiences as involving stable states of body and identity transcendence, often characterized by non-dual awareness and a pervasive sense of unity. Their personal interpretations of consciousness tended to view it as universal rather than a product of the brain. These first-person accounts provide insights into advanced meditation experiences and the nature of consciousness, underscoring the value of qualitative research in this field.