Lights that flash in time with your heart can trigger ‘out-of-body’ experiences that …

Volunteers were made to feel as if they inhabited an image of their own body two metres away from them
They were asked to synchronise a flashing bright light outlining a virtual image with their heartbeat
Caused volunteers to strongly identify with 'double'
Not only did the they perceive the image
as 'real', but they felt located in a different place

By
Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED:

23:20 GMT, 13 August 2013

|

UPDATED:

23:20 GMT, 13 August 2013

Heartbeats can be used to trigger strange 'out-of-body' experiences that may be helpful in the treatment of anorexia, research has shown.

In a study, volunteers were made to feel as if they inhabited an image of their own body two metres away from where they were actually standing.

Their task was to synchronise a flashing light that outlined a virtual image of themselves with their heartbeat, in real time.

Heartbeats can be used to trigger a weird 'out-of-body' experience that makes people feel as if they inhabit an image of their own body

Scientists discovered that doing this caused the volunteers to strongly identify with their body double.

Not only did the they perceive the image as 'real', but they felt located in a different place, closer to the virtual body than their real, physical one.

Volunteers also experienced the sensation of touch some distance away from their physical body.

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.

'This is compatible with the theory that the brain generates our experience of self by merging information about our body from multiple sources including the eyes, the skin, the ears and even one's internal organs.'

Dr Aspell hopes the research, published in the journal Psychological Science, may help people with psychological problems involving distorted self-perception, such as anorexia nervosa and body dysmorphic disorder.

The researchers hope the technique may help people with psychological problems involving distorted self-perception, such as anorexia nervosa

She is now working on a study of how the self-perception of 'yo-yo' dieters changes as they gain and lose weight.

'Patients with anorexia, for example, have a disconnection from their own body. They look in the mirror and think they are larger than they actually are.

'This may be because their brain does not update its representation of the body after losing weight, and the patient is therefore stuck with a perception of a larger self that is out of date,' said Dr Aspell.

'This experiment could be adapted to help people "reconnect" with their current physical appearance. It could help them realise what the "real me" actually looks like.'