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BRAIN DAMAGE CREATES GHOSTS

Ghosts have nothing to do with supernatural experiences, but are simply the result of brain damage,quoted a Swiss scientist.

Apparitions are like "phantom limbs" – the sense that an amputated limb is still present – but " spread to the whole body ," according to neuroscientist Peter Brugger of the University Hospital in Zurich.

"Ghosts are probably nothing more, but also nothing less than phantoms of the body," he said. Some people actually see their double, often as a mirror image, and this could be the result of damage to visual areas of the brain that affect the way we sense our body, Brugger said.

Out of body experiences, where people "see" their body from the outside, may be caused by temporary over activity of certain brain regions, he said. Brugger said these experiences are generated when the parietal lobes, the regions responsible for the distinction between the body and surrounding space, are damaged.

(As reported in The Hindu Business Lines)