THE NEUROPHENOMENOLOGY OF OUT-OF-BODY EXPERIENCES INDUCED BY HYPNOTIC SUGGESTIONS
Enrico Facco, Edoardo Casiglia, Benedikt Emanuel Al Khafaji, Francesco Finatti, Gian Marco Duma, Giovanni Mento, Luciano Pederzoli, Patrizio Tressoldi
International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis January 2, 2019 DOI: 10.1080/00207144.2019.1553762 via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractOut-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.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Experimental study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 15 |
| Population | High hypnotizable subjects |
| Keywords | Hypnosis Hypnotic susceptibility Consciousness Altered state Psychotherapist |
| Citations | 38 |
| Key finding | Hypnotically induced out-of-body experiences produce stronger phenomenological effects and decreased beta and gamma band power in right parieto-temporal areas compared to imagination alone. |
Abstract
Inducing out-of-body experiences in hypnosis (H-OBEs) offers an almost unique opportunity to investigate them under controlled conditions. OBEs were induced as an imaginative task in a resting condition (I-OBE) or in hypnosis (H-OBE) in a group of 15 high hypnotizable subjects. A 32-channel EEG was recorded, and the spectral power and imaginary coherence of each frequency band and each couple of electrodes were calculated. At the end of each session, the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory (PCI) was administered to assess the phenomenological aspects of the subjects' experience. Significantly higher scores in the altered state, positive affect altered experience, and attention subdimensions of the PCI were reported in H-OBE than in I-OBE, which were associated with a significant decrease of power in beta and gamma band activity in right parieto-temporal derivations. These results suggest that the H-OBE may offer a useful experimental model of spontaneous OBEs.