Out of body, in my mind

[theblackalchemist]

Shaking hands with yourself is an amusing out-of-body experience. But the illusion of having your stomach slashed with a kitchen knife, not so much.

 

Both sensations, however, felt real to most participants in a Swedish science project exploring how people can be tricked into the false perception of owning another body.

 

In a study presented on Tuesday, neuroscientists at Stockholm’s renowned Karolinska Institute showed how they got volunteers wearing virtual reality goggles to experience the illusion of swapping bodies with a mannequin and a real person.

 

“We were interested in a classical question that philosophers and psychologists have discussed for centuries: why we feel that the self is in our bodies,” said project leader Henrik Ehrsson. “To study this, we’ve used tricks, perceptual illusions.”

 

It sounded intriguing enough for me to try it, though entering the laboratory on Monday, I was having second thoughts.

 

The first props I saw were two kitchen knives, three naked dummies and a prosthetic hand sticking out from behind a curtain.

 

“You have the right to say stop at any time if you feel uncomfortable,” said Ehrsson’s colleague, Valeria Petkova, as she rubbed my left hand with electrolytic gel and attached electrodes to the middle and index fingers.

 

She assured me I was not in any danger. Still, a nervous tingle rushed through my body as she placed the headset over my eyes.

 

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/7/2008120320081203022228161fa492b49/Out-of-body-in-my-mind