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Collective Findings of Isolation Experiments
The effects of isolation have been under study since the 1950s, and were especially fuelled by the arms race during the cold war. Scientists with notable contributions to this field of study include Donald Hebbs, Harry Harlow, and John Cacioppo. Findings of isolation studies have also contributed to the field of chronobiology.

Two forms of isolation that can be observed in the everyday world are prisoner confinement and social isolation. Both of these have profound psychological and physiological effects. Anecdotes of isolation tell us that some individuals are better equipped to deal with it than others, typically those who find ways to keep occupied.

Donald Hebbs Experiments of Sensory Deprivation
During the 1950s, a professor of psychology by the name of Donald Hebb from Montreal’s McGill University became involved with research relating sensory isolation and human cognition. This research was influenced by the cold war, and Soviet experiments on war prisoners. Participants were volunteer college students who would be paid to spend time completely isolated from auditory, visual, and tactile stimuli. The experiment was planned to last 6 weeks, but no participants lasted more than a few days. After a few hours they experienced visual, auditory, and tactile hallucinations. It has been hypothesized that without any sensory input, the nervous system begins creating its own patterns, leading to these hallucinations.

Participants also experienced an impairment of mental faculties as they performed poorly on word associations, pattern recognition, and simple arithmetic tests. Isolated individuals were seen to be vulnerable to brain washing; they were presented tapes arguing the existence of supernatural phenomena and approved of such beliefs when later interviewed. Dr. Ewen Cameron used this finding to develop “psychic driving”, a technique that aimed to erase memories of schizophrenic patients (without consent) and rewire their brains. He would deprive these patients of sensory stimuli, and play tapes that repeated positive messages. This therapy had no positive effect on the health of patients.

In 2008, Clinical psychologist Ian Robbins carried out experiments similar to Donald Hebbs. He isolated six volunteers for 48 hours, and had results similar to studies previously conducted on sensory isolation. Volunteers experienced fluctuations in emotions, hallucinations, paranoia, and impaired mental functioning.

Isolation Experiments of Harry Harlow
Harry Frederick Harlow, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, began his career heavily invested in studying maternal bonding and childhood separation. His second wife, with whom he had two children, would pass away in 1971 after a hard battle with cancer. This incident left him depressed, significantly altering his research interests and future direction.

He became interested in studying animal models of clinical depression in rhesus monkeys. Baby monkeys would be taken from their mothers and isolated for one month, six months, or a full year. These studies found dramatic psychological consequences of isolation beyond one month. The isolated monkeys grew up to have trouble forming sexual relationships, lacked paternal skills, and were severely bullied when exposed to other monkeys.

After a thorough analysis of the results, Harry Harlow came to the conclusion that his experiments were not representative of the depression he had aimed to study. He altered the research experiment by letting the baby monkeys live with their mothers for three months, and isolating them after they formed social bonds. He also used a modified captivity design called “the pit of despair”, where the baby monkeys were given a chance of escape that was in actuality impossible to achieve. He had similar results in the experiment, and concluded that not even a happy upbringing insulated one from the effects of isolation. These experiments have received heavy criticism on ethical grounds, and are thought to have been instrumental in the animal liberation movement.

Isolation Experiments of Michel Siffre
Michel Siffre became involved with isolation experiments at a young age due to his interest in astronomy. He hoped that the knowledge gained from these experiments would help astronauts conquer similar situations faced in outer space. His first stay was in 1962; he was in constant communication with his research team and lasted two months in isolation. The climate underground was very cold and humid, which resulted in him suffering hypothermia. Although his mind had lost track of time, it appeared that his body had kept a regular sleeping/waking schedule.

He would go underground for a second time in 1972, staying for a period of 6 months. This trip happened in the United States, and was sponsored by NASA. The findings from this experiment state that after prolonged periods of isolation, the sleep/wake cycle shifts to 48 hours, with 36 hours awake and 12 hours of sleep. Maurizio Montalbini, caving enthusiast and socio biologist, has also reported this sleep/wake cycle. During prolonged isolation an individual also experiences hyposensitivity to pain. Many NASA astronauts have also reported similar effects. These experiments helped further the field of chronobiology, by providing evidence for internal clocks within humans.

Physiological Effects of Social Isolation
Social isolation is defined as a chronic lack of association with members of ones social species, and is different from temporary loneliness. It has profound physiological implications such as hardening of arteries, prolonged inflammatory response, hypertension, and higher levels of cortisol. The effect of social isolation on health has been shown to be almost as profound as a lack of exercise. There is elevated activity in the amygdala, the region of the brain associated with threat detection. There is also a reduced level of activity in the ventral striatum, a neurological area involved in reward circuitry. The prefrontal cortex is another region of the brain seen to have lowered activity in socially isolated people, and it is associated with executive function. As a result, these individuals are seen to have less control over their diet, drink more alcohol, and exercise less.

Psychological Effects of Social Isolation
The psychological effects of social isolation are profound. Research studies done by Cole and Cacioppo show that it reduces quality of sleep received, increases anxiety, and increases sensitivity towards negative information. Socially isolated individuals are more likely to rate interactions with others as more negative than do controls. This leads to a downward spiral, further enforcing the individual’s social isolation. These individuals feel unsafe more than unhappy, because cooperation has been so important through human evolutionary history. Extreme emotional states in isolated individuals can be explained through a lack of regulation from peers. Terry Kupers, a forensic psychiatrist who has interviewed thousands of confined inmates, states that he has observed to be a cause of extreme emotional states.

Prisoner Confinement
Prisoner confinement involves the isolation of a criminal from human contact, and is used either as a form of protection or correction. It was first introduced to North America in 1829, advocated for by the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prison. The purpose was to allow time for a criminal to remediate his/her relationship with God. It is criticized heavily for being costly, ineffective, unethical, and a form of torture.

Physiological Effects of Prisoner Confinement
The physiological effects of prisoner confinement are similar to those of other forms of isolation. Severe headaches, heart palpitations, increased pules, pain in abdomens, dizziness, oversensitivity to stimuli and loss of appetite are effects commonly observed. In one study, 651 out of 1596 confined prisoners were seen to have lost 5-10 kg of weight within their first 3 months. This effect has also been observed in the high security prisons of the United States. Inmates often observe that they begin to have serious problems with concentration as a result of isolation; they are unable to watch TV or read. The term “confused thought process” has been used to describe this phenomenon. A Norwegian study also showed that roughly 20% of those in solitary confinement experienced perceptual distortions.

Psychological Effects of Prisoner Confinement
The psychological effects of confinement on inmates are comparably as adverse as the physiological effects. Depression and adjustment disorder occur at a significant rate among confined inmates. Generally, there is an increase of problems associated with impulse control, violence, and self-mutilation. A Swiss study reported that 36% of confined inmates that required psychiatric attention were hospitalized. Some inmates are able to recover upon termination of confinement, showing that health effects of isolation are reversible, and this has been termed “Psychological regeneration”. Female prisoners are seen to experience the effects of confinement more seriously. They have a higher incident of social anxiety, self-imposed seclusion, and have difficulties with sexual intimacy when returning to normal life.

Other Anecdotes from Isolation
Analysis of the countless stories and anecdotes of isolation, it is clear that some individuals are better equipped to deal with it than are others. Hussain Al-Shahrishtani was a top advisor of Saddam Hussein, and when he refused to cooperate on the development of nuclear weapons, he was sentenced to isolation. He was isolated for 10 years, until he single handily developed and carried out a jailbreak. He attributes his survival of the isolation to mathematical problems, which he would develop and solve to keep stimulated. Edith Bone is a medical academic of Hungary with a similar story, and she survived her isolation by practising vocabulary of the 6 different languages she spoke fluently.

The story of senator John McCain tells us of how difficult dealing with isolation can be. He was caught as a prisoner of the Vietnam War and says, “It’s an awful thing, solitary. It crushes your spirit and weakens your resistance more effectively than any other form of mistreatment… The onset of despair is immediate, and it is a formidable foe”. 32-year-old Sarah Shourd of Kurdistan went through a thousand hours of isolation when she and a friend were accused of spying near the Iranian border. She reported feeling of despair, auditory, and visual hallucinations. Michel Striffe, scientist with notable contributions to chronobiology, also reports dabbling into madness during his isolation where he sang at the top of his lungs and danced the twist.

Gro Sandal, a Norwegian psychologist, has interviewed and conducted experiments on many explorers. Her findings indicate that they eventually turn to their environments for stimulation, and turn to anthropomorphism as a coping mechanism. This helps them block out the negative realities of their situation, and raise morale regarding the future.