The body unbound: Vestibular–motor hallucinations and out-of-body experiences

Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) and vestibular-motor sensations during sleep paralysis share a distinct factor, with research on direct vestibular cortex stimulation producing nearly identical bodily-self hallucinations. Two online surveys of sleep paralysis experiences assessed causal relationships among vestibular-motor experiences and OBEs. Results support the hypothesis that OBEs arise from a breakdown in normal bodily-self sensation binding, with out-of-body feelings resulting from anomalous vestibular-motor experiences and preceding a specific form of autoscopic experience called out-of-body autoscopy. Vestibular and motor experiences independently contribute to OBE variance. The findings offer naturalistic explanations for phenomena superficially consistent with dualistic and supernatural intuitions.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Among the varied hallucinations associated with sleep paralysis (SP), out-of-body experiences (OBEs) and vestibular-motor (V-M) sensations represent a distinct factor. Recent studies of direct stimulation of vestibular cortex report a virtually identical set of bodily-self hallucinations. Both programs of research agree on numerous details of OBEs and V-M experiences and suggest similar hypotheses concerning their association. In the present study, self-report data from two on-line surveys of SP-related experiences were employed to assess hypotheses concerning the causal structure of relations among V-M experiences and OBEs during SP episodes. The results complement neurophysiological evidence and are consistent with the hypothesis that OBEs represent a breakdown in the normal binding of bodily-self sensations and suggest that out-of-body feelings (OBFs) are consequences of anomalous V-M experiences and precursors to a particular form of autoscopic experience, out-of-body autoscopy (OBA). An additional finding was that vestibular and motor experiences make relatively independent contributions to OBE variance. Although OBEs are superficially consistent with universal dualistic and supernatural intuitions about the nature of the soul and its relation to the body, recent research increasingly offers plausible alternative naturalistic explanations of the relevant phenomenology.