Damien Roy

2 papers in the library · publishing 2026

Papers

Phenomenology and Neurophysiology of Out-of-Body Experiences: Mechanisms, Characteristics, and Empirical Evidence.

Journal of the Society for Psychical Research June 12, 2026 Sabine Rabourdin, Damien Roy, Claude Berghmans

Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) are phenomena where consciousness seems separate from the physical body, reported for centuries in spiritual traditions and now studied in neuroscience, psychology, and anthropology. This literature review presents scientific research and explanatory approaches to OBEs, which typically occur during altered states like sleep, meditation, hypnosis, psychotropic substance use, lucid dreams, sleep paralysis, or intense stress. Common descriptions include floating sensations, panoramic vision, altered body perception, and feeling of free movement. Despite advances, OBEs remain difficult to study rigorously, with no consensus on their origin and ununified results across disciplines. The discussion calls for a more precise classification grid and suggests advanced methodologies could provide new insights.

DOI: 10.63499/khwya933 Lucid dream Phenomenology philosophy Consciousness Phenomenon +12

Expanding Microphenomenology: The Researcher-as-Obstacle Approach to Continuous Phenomena

January 8, 2026 Raphaël Julliard, Damien Roy, Marion Botella preprint

Standard micro-phenomenology, which reconstructs short, bounded episodes after they end, struggles to investigate phenomena that practitioners experience as continuous. The Researcher-as-Obstacle (RAO) framework adapts the method by introducing precisely timed interruptions during a pretext experience that mobilizes the continuous process. A case study with a professional artist compared a standard retrospective interview to an RAO session. Standard micro-phenomenology captured fine-grained experiential content but could not temporally anchor the regulative dynamic of the “creative engine.” RAO sacrificed exhaustive diachrony to obtain multiple anchored samples of recurrent patterns, such as the search for a “feeling of life.” RAO extends micro-phenomenology to continuous phenomena while preserving evocation and pre-reflective access.

DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/g7nmf_v1 Pretext Experiential learning Process computing Bounded function +11