Event overview
020 7919 7882
Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit Invited Speaker Series, 2011/12
Abstract
Recent evidence suggests that the complex neurocognitive processes underlying stable self-awareness and embodiment are not error-proof and can breakdown, leading to striking distortions in body-image and body-based hallucinations. One such hallucination is the Out-of-Body Experience (OBE). The current dominant view is that perspective-taking processes in the temporo-parietal junction regions may sub-serve the shift in perspective underlying the experiential content of the OBE. In this presentation, Dr Braithwaite will review the prior neurological evidence for these assertions and question some of the assumptions surrounding the behavioural tasks employed to investigate these claims. In addition, he will present the latest and most recent findings from his own laboratory showing that (i) previous tasks employed to assess spatial aspects of the OBE are unlikely to be perspective-taking tasks; (ii) non-clinical OBEers display elevated scores on measures of temporal-lobe dysfunction; (iii) OBEers do show specific biases in body-transformation processing – when methodological limitations are addressed; (iv) OBEers display an advantage for elevated perspective-taking tasks relative to controls; and (v) he will present evidence from a new task which has revealed increased levels of cortical hyperexcitabililiy in the OBE population.
Biography
Dr Jason Braithwaite is a lecturer in Cognitive Psychology and Neuroscience at the Behavioural Brain Sciences Centre, University of Birmingham. His research interests are broad and span areas such as (i) the relationship between visual attention and awareness, (ii) underlying mechanisms of failures of visual awareness, (iii) perspective-taking mechanisms and hallucinations of the self, and (iv) hallucinations, delusions and instances of anomalous cognition in patient and non-clinical populations. He is currently heading projects investigating both neural and cognitive factors that may predispose certain individuals to report anomalous experiences of the self.
APRU Invited Speaker Programme
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Jan 2012 | 6:00pm - 7:30pm |
Accessibility
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