Hit The O-Spot For Out-Of-Body

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Shamans teach that out-of-body experiences are best achieved through meditation, reflection and transcendental calm. Scientists believe they have found a less celestial source: the right angular gyrus of the brain.

The new thinking is the result of the case of a woman, 43, who was undergoing treatment for epilepsy originating in her brain's right hemisphere. A team of researchers at the University Hospitals of Geneva and Lausanne wrote in Nature last week that to pinpoint the problem, it implanted electrodes in the suspect region to record seizures and used a weak current to map the brain. The doctors--and the patient--then got a surprise.

When the current was applied to a particular spot, the woman experienced a sense of lightness, as if she were floating above herself. More remarkably, she seemed to see part of her body as if she were viewing it from the ceiling. When the doctors asked her to move her limbs, she experienced other illusions: one arm seemed shorter than the other; her legs seemed to fly toward her face; if she closed her eyes, her upper body felt as if it were flying toward her legs.

The doctors believe her sensations were caused by a failure of the brain to integrate tactile sensations and balance. Transient out-of-body experiences can occur in anyone, but a glance around is usually all it takes to ground the brain in reality again. The right angular gyrus, however, sits quite near the vestibular cortex, the seat of balance. Jolting the Swiss patient's gyrus apparently threw the delicate feedback system out of synch--creating a state of neural chaos that was exacerbated when she moved her eyes and body. Whether shamans achieve the same state through meditation is impossible to say. But if they do, they have certainly found a more pleasant way to get there. --By Jeffrey Kluger