Out of body experience during sleep paralysis: an altered state of consciousness. Preliminary results

"We understand consciousness as the subjective experience the "How is it..." to perceive a scene, recognize a face, hear a sound, or reflect on the experience itself. It can be considered a dynamic process and it can be temporarily divided into states. The states of consciousness depend one’s subjective experience and8 it’s associated neurobiological correlates, and they can be divided in physiological, pathological or altered states. The Out of Body Experiences (OBEs) are an altered state of consciousness, defined as the experience in which an observer perceives the world from a point of view outside of their physical body. OBEs reflect an alteration in the multisensory association cortexes, with the parieto-temporal junction (TPJ) playing a fundamental role. These experiences can occur during sleep paralysis. Sleep paralysis is caused by an intrusion of Rapid Eye Movement sleep (REM) into wakefulness. It is a state which can occur when waking up or falling asleep, in which a person is aware but unable to move or speak. It can be accompanied by a sense of a presence, auditory and visual hallucinations and in some cases OBEs. OBEs during sleep paralysis can occur spontaneously, or they can be induced by training. Here, we conducted an interview with subjects who had spontaneous OBE during sleep paralysis (S-OBE) and subjects who apply techniques to induce it (I-OBEs)."