REVIEW article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Consciousness Research
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1600707
This article is part of the Research TopicUnderstanding conscious experiences during sleepView all 3 articles
Distinguishing Out-of-Body Experiences from Lucid Dreaming: a phenomenological analysis.
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Virginia, Charlottesville, United States
- 2Juiz de Fora Federal University, Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- 3University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States
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ABSTRACT Despite extensive discussions, a consensus is lacking on whether out-of-body experiences (OBEs) and lucid dreams (LDs) should be considered as distinct categories of experience, and if so, what differentiates them. To address this issue, we first discussed the implications of OBEs and LDs as the same type of phenomenon. We then compiled a comprehensive list of experiential features associated with OBEs and LDs, aiming to identify a distinguishing criterion between them. We conclude that neither the previously proposed features nor the interpretation of the experience can reliably differentiate them. We suggest that disembodiment, or existing without a physical body, should be the key phenomenological feature of OBEs, regardless of other aspects of the experience. Our argument is supported by first-person reports included as supplemental material, indicated by superscript numbers. By focusing on this crucial element, we can better understand and characterize an OBE, distinguishing it from other related experiences.
Keywords: Non-ordinary states of consciousness, Sleep, Phenomenology, altered states of consciousness, Consciousness
Received: 26 Mar 2025; Accepted: 21 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Weiler, Moreira-Almeida and Monti. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Marina Weiler, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, United States
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