"Total Isolation"

"Total Isolation"
In January 2008, the BBC aired a Horizon special entitled "Total Isolation." The premise of the show centered around 6 individuals who agreed to be shut inside a cell in a nuclear bunker, alone and in the dark. Prior to isolation, the volunteers underwent tests of visual memory, information processing, verbal fluency and suggestibility. After, they spent two days and two nights in isolation. The subjects noted that their inability to sense time and the hallucinations and visions that they experienced made the 48 hours inside the cell very difficult on their mind.
Of the six volunteers, two coped well. One woman was convinced her sheets were wet. Three experienced auditory and visual hallucinations - snakes, oysters, tiny cars and zebras. After the 48 hours was complete, the same tests were conducted. The results indicated that the volunteers' ability to complete the simplest tasks had deteriorated. One subject's memory capacity fell 36% and all the subjects had trouble thinking of words beginning with the letter "F". All four of the men (neither of the two women) had markedly increased suggestibility[13] .
"Its really hard to stimulate your brain with no light. It's blanking me. I can feel my brain just not wanting to do anything."
—Adam Bloom, "Total Isolation"