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Sensation of presence (Psychology): causes and associated disorders

Sensation of presence (Psychology): causes and associated disorders

March 3, 2024

Throughout history and cultures the human being has experienced phenomena that he was not able to explain, labeling them as paranormal phenomena. This is due to the amazing ability of the body to make us live rather strange experiences, to which people try to give an acceptable sense, most of the time from a cultural perspective.

Luckily, science has evolved enough to explain some of these phenomena, among which is the sense of presence, or sense of presence, about which will be discussed in this article. A sensation that, although disturbing, finds its explanation in brain functioning.


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What is the sensation of presence?

The feeling of presence is a perceptual distortion in which the person feels that she is not alone although there is no external stimulus to support that sensation; the most representative case being that of a person who feels a presence behind him, which can be quite disturbing.

Although it is a phenomenon that occurs in the healthy population in a timely manner, it can occur in people with some very specific brain damage , above all, and more frequently and intensely, in people who tend to suffer hallucinations.


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Perceptual distortions

The set of perceptual or imagination disorders are divided into two large groups: Perceptual distortions and perceptive deceptions .

Although these two terms coincide in that the person has an unusual perceptual experience, there are differences between them. This difference is that in the perceptual distortions there is a stimulus but the subject experiences a distortion, and in the perceptive deceptions are not based on real stimuli that exist outside the subject.

Since the sensation of presence is considered a perceptual distortion, this section will focus on the description of these.

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How do these distortions appear?

These distortions are experienced by the person as a misperception of the reality that surrounds you. Usually, they occur when a stimulus that exists outside the person and is accessible to the sensory organs, is perceived in a different and wrong way than would be expected according to the characteristics of the stimulus itself.


In these cases, the abnormality resides in that the physical characteristics of what surrounds us , which are perceived in a distorted way. To qualify an experience of this type as cognitive distortion, two requirements must be taken into account:

  • Experience a different perception than usual, most likely conditioned by previous experiences .
  • Experience a different perception taking in consideration the physical or formal conformation of the stimulus .

As indicated above, in cognitive distortions the anomaly tends to occur in the perception that the subject performs from a certain stimulus. However, sometimes such distortions have their origin in disorders with an organic basis , usually temporary and that can influence both sensory perception and understanding at the level of the central nervous system.

In short, the distortions are the product of a poor interaction between these three elements:

  • Qualities of the stimulus
  • Qualities of the context in which the stimulus appears
  • Features of the receiver

Causes and related disorders

In an experiment, detailed at the end of this article, the frontoparietal cortex and certain parts of the brain, such as the limbic system, associated with self-consciousness, movement and the position of the body in space, were identified as responsible. ; discovering that people who perceived this type of presence suffered from some type of damage or injury in these areas.

Commonly the sensation of presence is related to any of these alterations or disorders:

  • States of anxiety
  • States of pathological fear
  • Schizophrenia
  • Mental disorders of organic origin

As for the healthy population that suffers this type of experience, it is usual that this occurs in Times of stress or extreme fatigue or in single people with a very drastic decrease in environmental stimulation.

In the event that it becomes a recurring, lasting event, or be accompanied by other sensations or symptoms , it is advisable to go to the reference doctor for an evaluation.

The importance of performing a psychiatric or psychological evaluation in these cases lies in three points:

  • Its possible association with other signs or symptoms .
  • It is a sign of a high emotional state.
  • They can alert clinicians to the existence of an etiological basis for this perceptual alteration.

The Lausanne experiment

In 2014, a team of researchers from the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (EPFL) was able to determine some suspected brain areas with this singular and disturbing sensation.

Also, this group of scientists developed an experiment that replicated in people this sense of closeness of a strange entity.

The test began with a brain scan of 12 people who suffered from a neurological disorder and who reported presenting this sensation of presence. Through this scanner it was discovered that all had some kind of damage in certain parts of the brain whose functions are related to self awareness, movement and body position.

Then, the researchers managed to recreate the sensation that the person has when he perceives a sensation like this. For this, they used 48 healthy volunteers who had never noticed this presence and exposed them to an experiment that altered neuronal signals in these same regions of the brain .

The first step of this test was to cover the eyes of the participants, after this they were asked to manipulate a robotic system with their hands. As another robot did traced exactly the same movements on the back of the volunteers .

When these movements took place at the same time, the participants of the test felt nothing unusual. However, when there was a delay between both movements, a third of the participants said they felt a kind of presence in the room .

Such was the commotion provoked in some of the people who even came to request to stop the experiment.

The explanation lies in the fact that the human brain has different representations of its own body in space, and in normal situations it has no problem to elaborate a unified perception of the self. However, when this system works defectively can lead to a second representation of one's own body , perceiving it as the presence of another person different but can not see.

The group of scientists theorized that when people perceive this presence of a ghostly type, the brain is actually getting confused; miscalculating the body position and, therefore, identifying it as belonging to another person or entity.


Schizophrenia - causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment & pathology (March 2024).


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