Out of body experiences: Scoping review.
Jenny Moix, Samantha Baldaccini, Marta Isern
Explore June 4, 2025 DOI: 10.1016/j.explore.2025.103196 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Scoping review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 87 |
| Population | Publications on out-of-body experiences |
| Topics | Altered states of consciousness Lucid dreaming |
| Keywords | Transcendental experiences Out-of-body experiences obes Astral projection Non-physical experiences Understanding consciousness Mind Awareness Trance states Spiritual experiences Mystical experiences Peak experiences |
| Key findings | OBEs are a complex phenomenon that can occur spontaneously or be induced, are highly idiosyncratic with a strong sense of reality, and are explained by psychological, physiological, and non-local consciousness hypotheses. |
Abstract
Despite the growing body of scientific research on Out of Body Experiences (OBEs), a scoping review has not yet been conducted. A search was conducted across six databases. Studies published between 1987 and 2024 were included, resulting in the selection of 87 publications. The analyzed factors included deliberate inducing, predisposing, precipitating, consequential, phenomenological, and physiological factors. OBEs can occur spontaneously, be self-induced, or induced through different methods. Experiences such as sleep paralysis, or lucid dreaming can facilitate OBEs. They can be triggered in various situations. The reactions to OBEs vary widely: some individuals fear their recurrence, while others welcome these experiences. OBEs are highly idiosyncratic, often accompanied by a strong sense of reality. Explanatory hypotheses for the nature of OBEs include psychological, physiological, and non-local consciousness perspectives. OBEs are a complex phenomenon that requires further understanding to normalize and expand the current conception of consciousness.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on lucid dreaming, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The cognitive neuroscience of lucid dreaming | 2019 | Review | |
| My Dream, My Rules: Can Lucid Dreaming Treat Nightmares? | 2019 | Review | |
| What about dreams? State of the art and open questions | 2022 | Review | |
| The Dream of God: How Do Religion and Science See Lucid Dreaming and Other Conscious States During Sleep? | 2020 | Review | |
| Insight and Dissociation in Lucid Dreaming and Psychosis | 2018 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cites 56
- Out‐of‐body experience and autoscopy of neurological origin Brain January 15, 2004
- Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: a prospective study in the Netherlands The Lancet December 1, 2001
- Linking Out-of-Body Experience and Self Processing to Mental Own-Body Imagery at the Temporoparietal Junction Journal of Neuroscience January 19, 2005
- The Out-of-Body Experience: Disturbed Self-Processing at the Temporo-Parietal Junction The Neuroscientist January 4, 2005
- Consciousness in the universe: a review of the 'Orch OR' theory. March 1, 2014
and 51 more in the library