Out-of-Body Experience During Awake Craniotomy
Abstract
Background The out-of-body experience (OBE), during which a person feels as if he or she is spatially removed from the physical body, is a mystical phenomenon because of its association with near-death experiences. Literature implicates the cortex at the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) as the possible anatomic substrate for OBE. Case description We present a patient who had an out-of-body experience during an awake craniotomy for resection of low-grade glioma. During surgery, stimulation of subcortical white matter in the left TPJ repetitively induced OBEs, in which the patient felt as if she was floating above the operating table looking down on herself. Conclusions We repetitively induced OBE by subcortical stimulation near the left TPJ during awake craniotomy. Diffusion tensor imaging tractography implicated the posterior thalamic radiation as a possible substrate for autoscopic phenomena.
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More recent EBS studies confirmed the role of the superior temporal cortex and temporo-parietal junction in self location and embodiment.
“In line with earlier work by Penfield, more recent EBS studies confirmed the role of the superior temporal cortex and temporo‐parietal junction in self location and embodiment.”
From Neural bases of the bodily self as revealed by electrical brain stimulation: A systematic review (2023) · cites this paper as Bos et al., 2016
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- Authors
- Bos, E. M., Spoor, J. K. H., Smits, M., Schouten, J. W., & Vincent, A. J. P. E.
- Affiliations
- Erasmus MC (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Bos, Eelke M.
- Venue
- World Neurosurgery
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2016-08
- Volume
- 92
- Pages
- 586.e9-586.e13
- ISSN
- 1878-8750 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2348830601
- Cited by
- 28
- References
- 13
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 4 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 5.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- World Neurosurgery (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Paranormal Experiences and Beliefs
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Hallucinations in medical conditions
- Keywords
- out-of-body experiences, awake craniotomy, temporoparietal junction, low-grade glioma, posterior thalamic radiation, diffusion tensor tractography, near-death experiences
- MeSH terms
- Brain Neoplasms, Craniotomy, Electric Stimulation, Female, Glioma, Hallucinations, Humans, Functional Laterality, Middle Aged, Retrospective Studies, Temporomandibular Joint, Thalamus, Wakefulness, Diffusion Tensor Imaging
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