Other Causes & Correlations

Lopez and Elziere’s research suggests that dizziness increases the occurrence of OBE. In Lopez and Elziere’s study, 14% of patients with dizziness have had at least one OBE, which is significantly higher than the healthy controls (5%). Furthermore, they suggest that the majority experienced an OBE only after experienced dizziness. This indicates that dizziness-evoking diseases may contribute to OBE too. For example, peripheral vestibular disorders such as vestibular neuritis, Meniere’s disease, perilympathic fistula and BPPV are common causes of OBE. Further study found similar gain of the vestibulo-ocular reflex and vestibular loss in patients with and without OBE, indicating that additional factors (top-down) are involved in OBE. 

As dizziness is closely related to OBE, it is also expected that vestibular illusions have a similar impact. Indeed, it is screened that the activation of a vestibular illusion and OBE in the brain are both concentrated at the the right temporal-parietal region that is posterior to the postcentral gyrus, which is close by the multi-sensory cortex involved in vestibular processing. 

Moreover, people with OBE are recorded to have high depersonalization-derealization scores but lower than the average of psychiatric patients diagnosed with depersonalization-derealization disorders, which is a consistent sensation of detaching from one’s physical body or from one’s surrounding.  

Source Cited:

Blanke, O., & Arzy, S. (2005). The Out-of-Body Experience: Disturbed Self-Processing at the Temporo-Parietal Junction. The Neuroscientist, 11(1), 16–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/1073858404270885

Cheyne, J., & Girard, T. (2008). The body unbound: Vestibular-motor hallucinations and out-of-body experiences. Cortex 45 (2009), 201-215.

Lopez, C., & Elziere M. (2017). Out-of-body experience in vestibular disorders- A prospective study of 210 patients with dizziness. Cortex 104 (2018), 193-206.

Marsh,M. (2006). Out-of-body and near-death experiences: Brain-state phenomena or glimpses of immortality?. Trinity Term. 

Shane Dawson. “ASTRAL PROJECTION: SHORT FILM.” YouTube, YouTube, 21 Oct. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijwk3alkWPs.

Schwabe, L., & Blanke, O. (2008). The vestibular component in out-of-body experiences: a computational approach. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 2, 17. doi:10.3389/neuro.09.017.2008

Schwabe, L., & Blanke, O,. (2008). The vestibular component in out-of-body experiences: a computational approach. Front. Hum. Neurosci.,03 Dec 2008. https://doi.org/10.3389/neuro.09.017.2008