Out-of-body experience, heautoscopy, and autoscopic hallucination of neurological origin
Brain Research Reviews July 13, 2005 DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresrev.2005.05.008 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Systematic review with statistical analysis of case reports Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 41 |
| Population | Neurological patients with autoscopic phenomena |
| Keywords | Illusion Consciousness Visual hallucination Cognitive psychology Cognition Developmental psychology |
| Citations | 352 |
| Key findings | Distinct phenomenological, functional, and anatomical variables differentiate out-of-body experiences, autoscopic hallucinations, and heautoscopy in neurological patients. |
Abstract
Autoscopic phenomena (AP) are rare illusory visual experiences during which the subject has the impression of seeing a second own body in extrapersonal space. AP consist of out-of-body experience (OBE), autoscopic hallucination (AH), and heautoscopy (HAS). The present article reviews and statistically analyzes phenomenological, functional, and anatomical variables in AP of neurological origin (n = 41 patients) that have been described over the last 100 years. This was carried out in order to further our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of AP, much as previous research into the neural bases of body part illusions has demystified these latter phenomena. Several variables could be extracted, which distinguish between or are comparable for the three AP providing testable hypotheses for subsequent research. Importantly, we believe that the scientific demystification of AP may be useful for the investigation of the cognitive functions and brain regions that mediate processing of the corporeal awareness and self consciousness under normal conditions.