'Out-of-body' experiences are caused by instabilities in the brain which distort a person's perception, a study has found.
Boffins at Birmingham University have found that the experience is caused by neural instabilities which cause vivid hallucinations and problems with co-ordination, suggesting to a person that they are somehow separated from their body.
They have published their results in Elsevier's Cortex.
Head of the Brain Department at Maidenhead University, Prof Onan Lid, said: "Elsevier's what? Never heard of it.
"Well how much time and money did they spend on this? What a disgraceful waste!
"You can go into any town centre any Friday or Saturday and see proof of this - in fact you see the aftermath of it in my classrooms of a Monday morning.
"Get a couple of drinks down them, they think they're God's gift, think they can dance, then wonder who that is puking up all over the litter bins.
"Next day, they certainly wish they're not in their bodies!"