From the article in the OP:
Quote:The patient felt “like an observer to conversations” going on in his mind, Parvizi tells the publication. The neuroscientist had a hunch that whichever brain area was undergoing unusual activity in the patient due to his epilepsy could also play a part in this altered state of consciousness.
I'm not directly addressing the topic of OOBEs to begin with.
It's just the statement made by the patient in that excerpt. '
The patient felt “like an observer to conversations” going on in his mind'
For me this is simply a matter of degree. I could say I feel like that all the time - it isn't something I'd consider abnormal, just everyday existence. Though when I add, a matter of degree, I mean sometimes I may feel more detached, more of an observer.
One occasion which was a little bit more than usual was after drinking alcohol for a period of some hours, passing through any initial effects and then almost feeling completely sober, though my ability to walk in a straight line might have indicated otherwise. Another time I was at school and in class we were taking it in turns to read aloud from a book we were studying. When it came to my turn, I read from the book, just like everyone else, but it wasn't something I enjoyed. I became somewhat of an 'outside' observer, though not in the OOBE sense. I could hear my voice reading the words, it sounded strange, not like my voice at all, I was curious or anxious about how the others in the room would be responding to my speaking. The person reading aloud and stopping when interrupted by the teacher as I reached the end, that was a different me to the actual me who was taking in this scene and weighing it all up. Busily having thoughts about something other than the book, I probably had no idea what was the meaning of the words in the book, that was just a kind of 'reading machine' in me.
(I might add that sometimes when listening to audiobooks or even plays on the radio, I get the impression that the reader or actor has no idea what it is that they are saying. I guess this kind of disassociation is very common).
Still, to get back on topic. It's the labelling of the OOBE as something 'going haywire'.
Quote:Now, scientists have pinned down a part of the brain that may be going haywire during out-of-body experiences.
Though I understand that epilepsy is something different to the everyday, on which I'm not qualified to comment, having no experience, not even second-hand, of the condition. However it seems almost like a sleight-of-hand to use this condition to imply by association the OOBEs are a kind of illness or malfunction.
My view is that because they can be achieved by a deliberate and conscious entering of a certain meditative state, then the OOBE does not need to be associated will ill-health or malfunction. It could be an accompaniment to good health and a state of well-being.