Scientists trigger ‘out-of-body’ experience using heartbeats

Seventeen volunteers were fitted with head cameras and shown a live video of themselves from behind.

Some of the volunteers were shown images which flashed in time with their own heartbeat.

The scientists found that those who were in effect watching their own heartbeat began to identify with their “virtual self” more than their own body.

The researchers claim this shows the experience had altered their “self-location” and had in effect produced an “out of body experience”.

Study leader Dr Jane Aspell, senior lecturer in psychology at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, said: “This research demonstrates that the experience of one’s self can be altered when presented with information about the internal state of one’s body, such as a heartbeat.”