Out-of-body experiences in relation to lucid dreaming and sleep paralysis: A theoretical review and conceptual model.

Out-of-body experiences (OBEs), where a person feels located outside their physical body, often occur spontaneously near or during sleep. This review examines sleep-related OBEs and proposes that maintaining consciousness during the transition from wakefulness to REM sleep (sleep-onset REM periods) may enable them. A new conceptual model is introduced to distinguish sleep-related OBEs from similar states like lucid dreaming and sleep paralysis, and to suggest possible brain activity patterns (polysomnographic features) underlying them. The predictive coding framework is applied to connect sleep-related OBEs with those occurring during wakefulness.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) are characterized by the subjective experience of being located outside the physical body. Little is known about the neurophysiology of spontaneous OBEs, which are often reported by healthy individuals as occurring during states of reduced vigilance, particularly in proximity to or during sleep (sleep-related OBEs). In this paper, we review the current state of research on sleep-related OBEs and hypothesize that maintaining consciousness during transitions from wakefulness to REM sleep (sleep-onset REM periods) may facilitate sleep-related OBEs. Based on this hypothesis, we propose a new conceptual model that potentially describes the relationship between OBEs and sleep states. The model sheds light on the phenomenological differences between sleep-related OBEs and similar states of consciousness, such as lucid dreaming (the realization of being in a dream state) and sleep paralysis (feeling paralyzed while falling asleep or waking up), and explores the potential polysomnographic features underlying sleep-related OBEs. Additionally, we apply the predictive coding framework and suggest a connecting link between sleep-related OBEs and OBEs reported during wakefulness.