Skip to content

Facilitating unusual bodily experiences and out-of-body experiences across wakefulness and sleep: A high-density EEG and neurophenomenology study

Teresa Campillo-Ferrer, Antonella Iadarola, Ramona Cordani, Marco Veneruso, Çağatay Demirel, Lino Nobili, Robert Oostenveld

Consciousness and Cognition February 11, 2026 DOI: 10.1016/j.concog.2026.104002 (opens in new tab)

Relevant Not relevant

Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Observational study Peer reviewed
Sample size 35
Population Healthy participants
Interventions meditation light stimulation
Topics Lucid dreaming Meditation Philosophy of mind
Keywords Wakefulness Electroencephalography Perception Consciousness Sleep system call Audiology Cognitive psychology Photic stimulation Psychophysiology Developmental psychology Sleep stages
Key findings Unusual bodily experiences emerge during intermediate states of consciousness that combine EEG features of both wakefulness and sleep, marked by increased high-frequency activity and decreased low-frequency activity, particularly in temporal regions.

Abstract

Unusual bodily experiences (UBEs) are illusory bodily perceptions that are not coherent with typical wakeful experiences, including flying or floating sensations, body distortions, and out-of-body experiences. This study examines UBEs in a controlled sleep laboratory using meditation and light stimulation to facilitate their occurrence. A total of N = 35 healthy participants underwent high-density EEG, with additional EMG, EOG, and ECG recordings. Participants signalled UBEs by performing left-right-left-right eye movements, providing an objective marker for analysis. Interviews adapted from the micro-phenomenological technique were conducted to capture detailed subjective reports and to guide subsequent sleep and EEG analyses. Of the 35 participants, N = 20 reported a total of n = 36 UBEs, occurring primarily during meditation (wakefulness) but also during sleep arousals, rapid eye-movement (REM) sleep and non-REM sleep. Spectral EEG analyses and generalized linear mixed models were used to investigate the neural correlates of these experiences, suggesting that UBEs emerge during intermediate states of consciousness combining EEG features of both wakefulness and sleep. Specifically, exploratory EEG analyses showed that UBEs across sleep and wakefulness were associated with EEG reactivation, marked by increased high-frequency activity (beta and gamma) and decreased low-frequency activity (delta and theta), with a particularly pronounced effect around temporal regions. Collectively, these results provide novel insights into the EEG correlates associated with UBEs and contribute to a deeper understanding of self-consciousness and body perception across sleep and wakefulness.

Comparable studies

Other observational and cohort studies on philosophy of mind, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
The phenomenology of near-death experiences Subjects who reported near-death experiences 1980 Retrospective study n = 78
Visual Phenomenology of the LSD Flashback Persons with a history of LSD use 1983 Observational cohort n = 123
The neurophenomenology of neutral hypnosis. Individuals of high, medium, and low hypnotizability 2013 Observational cohort n = 37
The Phenomenology of Acute Organic Psychosis Patients with acute organic psychosis and acute schizophrenics 1987 Observational cohort n = 148
EEG oscillatory states as neuro-phenomenology of consciousness as revealed from patients in vegetative and minimally conscious states. Brain-damaged patients with disorders of consciousness and healthy-conscious subjects 2012 Observational cohort

Citations in the library

Cites 52

and 47 more in the library

Related reading

Explore topics

Lucid dreaming Meditation Philosophy of mind