Reduced sensory stimulation in the BBC
21 01 2008Later in the term, we will be studying sensation and perception and its relation to consciousness. The BBC has an article on what happens when we are left alone with an active perceptual system getting little external sensory stimulation. The terminology and attitude of the article are a bit dated though.
What is referred in the article as “sensory deprivation” is now referred more to restricted environmental stimulation technique (REST), and has been studied for a long time. Early studies of this phenomenon had focused on the deleterious effects and sensationalized the hallucinations and delirium that resulted. More recent studies have been focused on how it can be helpful in clinical therapy. My graduate school advisor, Peter Suedfeld, has done much with this research, including demonstrating its effects on cognition and usefulness for smoking cessation and other behavioral change.
BBC NEWS | Magazine | Alone in the dark:
North American scientists paid students to stay in conditions of sensory deprivation for varying lengths of time. Most dropped out after 72 hours, and very few were able to stay more than four or five days. The boredom and oppression of the experiments’ conditions became overpowering.
Mickey, a postman is seeing mosquitoes and fighter planes buzzing around his head and it’s frightening him.
Claire a psychology student doesn’t mind the little cars, snakes and zebras. But she gets scared when she suddenly feels somebody is in the room.
“In the dark room there is nothing to focus on,” says Prof Robbins as he monitors their behaviour. “In the absence of information the human brain carries on working and processing information even if there is no information to process and after a while it starts to create that information itself.”
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Thanks for your post. You’re right that the terminology and attitude of the BBC article are dated.
Most people don’t understand the important difference between sensory deprivation of the type that exists in prisons and the type of sensory deprivation that occurs with Restricted Environmental Stimulation Technique (REST) whereby gravity, temperature, light and sound are attenuated by means of a shallow enclosed pool of skin-temperature water that contains a dense Epsom salt solution which creates a low gravity environment similar to what the Dead Sea in Israel provides. The former type of sensory deprivation has negative mental effects, but the latter (REST) has many proven beneficial effects for the mind as well as the body.
The sensory deprivation tank is a misleading term because for many it still holds negative connotations. A more accurate term that is commonly used is floatation tank.
Thanks for your comments, Frank. Peter had a floatation tank in the lab that I used to great effect in relaxation. He also had the square isolation chambers with a bed and chair, which he also used in experiments on the effects of 24-hour isolation on smoking cessation and other behavioral and cognitive changes. The isolation chambers were useful for naps and quiet studying!