After a lecture on "out-of-body experiences," a 24-year-old University of Ottawa student approached the professor and said, "I thought anyone could do that."
Anyone not any, but she definitely can - as a result of which the specialists have the opportunity to study the first person with similar characteristics.
In a scientific report published in the journal inHumanNeuroscience on the results of the study, the authors call the girl's condition "a special kind of illusion, in which a person's ability to control the movement of his body in space and time is clothed in a specific external form."
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In this unique case, the student, by her own assurances, can have an out-of-body experience at any time she wishes. She can "go beyond the boundaries of her own body" and "travel", while fully aware of what is happening with her own motionless physical body.
What causes out-of-body experiences?
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To answer this question, neuroscientists first scanned the student's brain. In an interview with ABC News, Gillian Moni said:
Claude Messi and his co-author interviewed and performed an MRI scan to see if brain activity could shed light on her unusual abilities.
Messi said that for the first time the girl discovered this gift in herself as a child, when she was put to bed during the day, and could not fall asleep. To pass the time somehow, the girl began to "fly" over her body."
“I felt like I was flying, or more precisely, I could make myself feel like I was flying. I was perfectly aware that in fact my body is motionless, - the student told the researchers. In fact, at this moment, the sensitivity to what is happening to my body increases, because I focus so much on the feeling of flying. For example, if I, being “out of my body”, turn to one side, then I will start to feel dizzy.
Messi says the student's brain activity is somewhat reminiscent of that of an athlete who vividly imagines winning the competition. However, there is one significant difference - in a girl, the main activity is in one hemisphere of the brain, while in athletes both are active.
The study allows us to conclude that such arbitrary "out-of-body experiences" can be characteristic of many other people, but they are not clearly expressed.
Usually “out of body experiences” are the result of trauma, mental illness, brain damage, or drug use. Researchers believe that such abilities can be characteristic of any small child, but over time, without regular practice, they are lost. They also believe that the ability for “out-of-body experiences” can be developed.