Scientists explain "out-of-body" experiences

There are amazing reports of people stating they've experienced out-of-body experiences. Now, scientists had the amazing opportunity to monitor the brain activity of a woman during such an event. The woman in question says she's able to do so at will since she was little, seeing herself float above her body. And what the scientists find out may help explain this strange phenomena.

First of all, let's keep in mind this is a different case than those out-of-body reports where people say thery were able to see things they wouldn't be able to see from their physical perspective (or that they weren't aware were there). In this case, the woman merely saw herself floating above her body, and sometimes looking down at herself.

During these events, scientists found out that the visual cortex responsible for the visual processing was "turned off" and that there was activity in the brain region responsible for our "positional self awareness" - the part of the brain that allows us to know where our body is, and which you put to use every time you use a staircase without watching where you put your feet, or pick up a glass on a table without actually looking at it.

So, it makes sense that this kind of phenomena may cause vivid "lucid" hallucinations that we perceive as being able to see ourselves, even though we're not actually seeing anything from an out of body perspective. Looks like it's nothing more but a simple "glitch" in your processor...