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.Various studies on out-of-body phenomena have focused on the ecso-maticity (literally, out-of-body-ness ).Since the 1960s, a growing numberof studies have tried to identify the brain mechanisms responsible for theexperience.One of these attempts was carried out by Charles Tart with theuse of the EEG.He came to the conclusion that some OBEs were charac-terized by a flat EEG with a marked predominance of alpha activity in thebrain (Tart 1965).A similar result has been shown in similar studies by Mitchell(1973).According to Carl Becker, such theories are inadequate to explainthe phenomenon simply because OBEs also occur in many other situations 9780415455206_4_002.qxd 6/6/08 4:44 PM Page 5050 Journeys in the afterlifewhich will be impossible on an alpha or sleep level, such as while engagingin normal everyday activities (Becker 1993: 61).Another approach is that proposed by the neurosurgeon Olaf Blanke ofthe University Hospital of Geneva in Switzerland.According to his team,the OBE involves a specific part of the brain, known as the right angular gyrus,which has various involvements with visual information, including the wayour body is perceived, as well as touch and balance sensations that all worktogether to create the mind s representation of the body.Blanke claimed thatan out-of-body experience may reflect a failure by the angular gyrus to inte-grate these different channels of information (Blanke et al.2002).Physicalstress, or a lack of oxygen to the brain, as in the case of the NDE, mighttrigger the experience.So it was for one of his patients, a 43-year-old ladywho suffered from epilepsy.The discovery happened accidentally while theteam was trying to map the activity of her brain in preparation for surgicaltreatment.When Blanke and colleagues activated the electrodes placed justabove the patient s right ear (the region of the right angular gyrus), the womanbegan to have strange sensations, which varied according to the amplitudeof the stimulation and the position of her body.After the first stimulation,she felt as though she was sinking into her bed and then she felt as though shewas falling from a height.After another stimulation she said felt likeshe was floating about 61/2 feet above her bed, close to the ceiling.Whenshe was asked to watch her legs during the stimulation, the patient said shesaw her legs becoming shorter (ibid.).Blanke argued that multiple lobes ofthe brain play a part in something as complex as a religious experience, butthat the temporo-parietal junction, responsible for orienting a person in timeand space, is a prime node of that network.Similarly, Michael Persinger, aCanadian psychologist, found that he was able to trigger out-of-body andother paranormal experiences in people by exposing the right sides of theirbrains to a series of electromagnetic pulses (Persinger 1983; 1999).A part ofthe brain called the hippocampus is also likely to be very important (Jansen2001).One of the most recent investigations of OBE was carried out by PennySartori a nurse at the Intensive Therapy Unit (ITU) in Swansea (Sartori2003; 2005).In order to verify whether or not the experiences of patients,who reported that they left their bodies , were hallucinations or some otherphenomena, she placed brightly colored cards above the bed spaces of eachpatient, in order to attract their attention.As soon as the patients regainedconsciousness and felt better, Sartori asked them if they had obtained anyinformation during unconsciousness.Despite all the effort and preparationmade in order to verify the OBE, none of the eight patients who reportedan OBE in her group of study had seen the symbols.Does this mean thatthe OBE is just a mind model constructed by the brain from residual sight,sound and tactile stimulation? One of the most interesting findings of thisstudy was that several patients reported experiences, which appeared to be 9780415455206_4_002.qxd 6/6/08 4:44 PM Page 51Journeys in the afterlife 51very accurate.For instance, a female respondent claimed seeing her colonjutting out.As Sartori commented:This was correct, the operation did not go to plan and part of hercolon had to be exposed at the surface of the skin.The patient wouldnot have expected to see this.However, this could have been seen whileshe was recovering in ITU, while she was still sedated, or recoveringfrom sedation and could have contaminated her recall of the experience.She reported seeing herself looking as white as the paper I was writ-ing on.This would have been true, as she lost a large amount of bloodduring this emergency situation.Finally, this lady reported seeingpeople wearing theatre masks, which is also true.However, she is a retiredauxiliary nurse so she would have been aware of the theatre attireprior to her operation.(2005: 240 2)As in this case, other OBErs reported accurate descriptions, but these werenot verifiable.The OBEs of Hiroshi MotoyamaFor millennia, Eastern cultures have tried to experience OBEs as a result ofstates of deep meditation (Becker 1983).Interested in the phenomenon, in2004, while I was a member of the 21st century Centre of Excellence on Deathand Life Studies at the University of Tokyo, I was invited to a panel dis-cussion with Hiroshi Motoyama, who is well known in Japan as a vision-ary and healer.16 I remember I was amazingly surprised to find out that heregularly practises meditation starting at 3 in the morning until 10 in themorning or noon, or sometimes all day long, without skipping a day.Thispractice enabled him to learn how to exit his body at will.But this is ofcourse not without an effort.According to him: Each session of meditationis comparable to a situation where a samurai warrior stakes his life in a swordduel.It is an extremely difficult task to overcome one s self while withstandingthe sensation of pain and discomfort. This state of pain and discomfortmay be well related to the long fasting and other ritual practices, which mayhave altered his brain function in some way.For instance, there is a grow-ing amount of evidence that people who are sensory-deprived for a long periodof time have visual imagery similar to OBEs
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