Touching the intangible: an exploratory resting-state EEG study of complex bodily hallucinations in the general population
Neuroscience Letters July 1, 2026 Sara Salgues, Geoffrey Duran, Arnaud Fournel et al.
Experiences like sensing a presence or feeling insects crawling under the skin occur in psychiatric, neurological, and toxicological contexts but also frequently in the general population. This exploratory study examined whether resting-state electrocortical oscillatory activity is associated with proneness to such experiences. Participants completed the Complex Bodily Hallucinatory Experiences Scale (CBHES) and underwent eyes-closed resting-state EEG. Significant correlations between CBHES scores and oscillatory activity were found only in three left-lateralized clusters in the delta frequency range: the middle insula, superior anterior temporal lobe, and orbitofrontal cortex. These findings suggest that complex bodily hallucinations involve multiple cognitive mechanisms and that intrinsic resting-state EEG activity is a candidate neurophysiological correlate of proneness to such experiences.