Problem

A central open question in Out-of-body Experience (OBE) science is whether the experience can be explained just as a causal disruption of bodily self-consciousness—rather than a purely correlational by-product of an non-ordinary state of consciousness indicative of the possibility for non-local, objetive, consciousness. Converging experimental work, particularly from Olaf Blanke and colleagues, implicates the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) as a key hub where multisensory body signals are integrated into self-location and first-person perspective and indicate that focal perturbations of this region trigger OBE-like phenomena. The notion has often been assumed to explain OBEs entirely when in fact initial experiment only triggered “autoscopic” experiences.

Technology

To test TPJ involvement in a controlled, non-clinical setting, SC-LAB has used an all-in-one tES-EEG platform that enables programmable stimulation waveforms and flexible stimulation montages (tACs/ tECs) while simultaneously monitoring brain activity. This allows us to probe TPJ-centred networks with state-sensitive protocols.

Outcomes and impact

Across pilot sessions, targeted TPJ stimulation was associated in some participants with enhanced features of disembodied self-location — measured with a newly developed scale measuring 22 phenomena of OBE-onset —, supporting the idea that modulating multisensory integration at the TPJ can influence OBE-relevant phenomenology. This line of work is designed to clarify when TPJ "perturbation" produces OBE-like effects, for whom (e.g., experienced vs. novice participants), and under which brain-state conditions—helping transform TPJ models of OBEs into testable, reproducible neurocognitive mechanisms and informing longitudinal protocols linking stimulations to increase learning OBE capacities acheive through the induction of brain plasticity (e.g., stimulation protocols). In time, we may move toward specific closed-loop stimulation designs that are timed to ongoing EEG dynamics relevant to OBE onset to stimulate OBEs.