Inglês
Interpretação de texto | Reading comprehensionUniCEUB · 2019MédioEntre para guardar nos favoritosLeia o texto para responder à questao.
Is there a scientific explanation for
out-of-body experiences?
Imagine feeling as though you are floating above your
body, looking down upon your physical self. Some argue
that such out-of-body experiences (OBEs) prove that the
conscious mind — or even the soul — can leave the body.
Supporting this interpretation, people who have survived a
near-death experience often recall experiencing this out-ofbody sensation — as if their spiritual essence had separated
from their corporeal existence.
However, the scientific explanation for OBEs is more
terrestrial. Neuroscientists and psychologists believe it has to
do with neural processes going wrong. In those who come
close to death, such as cardiac arrest survivors, it is the lack of
oxygen to the brain, and the release of certain neurochemicals
triggered by trauma, that interferes with the sensory functions
that support our usual feelings of embodiment. People’s
recollections of seeing themselves from above — such as
observing surgeons working on their body — could be a form
of hallucination or false memory, as they try to make sense of
their experiences.
Researchers have induced out-of-body states in healthy
volunteers simply by confusing their sensory systems. For
instance, scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm
asked volunteers to wear goggles that showed the perspective
of a camera placed behind them (so that they could see
themselves from behind). When a researcher prodded the
camera with a baton at the same time as prodding the person’s
chest, the volunteer had the sensation that they were floating
behind their physical body. The fact it is possible to induce an
OBE argues against more mystical explanations.
(Christian Jarret. www.sciencefocus.com, 2019. Adaptado.)
De acordo com o último parágrafo, um argumento a favor da
concepção científica da experiência fora do corpo é a
