Fifteen volunteers have embarked on a groundbreaking 40-day isolation experiment deep inside a cave, testing the limits of human confinement. Led by neuroscientists, the Deep Time project examines the brain's emotional and adaptive responses, providing vital insights to mitigate the effects of extreme disruptions like prolonged lockdowns.
One year after France's first lockdown, the Deep Time expedition launched on March 14, 2021. Fifteen participants, aged 27 to 50, entered the Lombrives cave in Ussat, Ariège, for their extended stay. Mission leader Christian Clot shares on the official site:
"During an exceptional period, an extraordinary expedition in France: 40 days underground to learn the links between our brains and time, as well as with the capacity for functional synchronization within a group. This is a basic need for our future."
Lockdowns eroded our sense of space and time amid the SARS-CoV-2 crisis, straining adaptability and emotions. Deep Time seeks to understand how to counter these impacts.
Free of watches, phones, or sunlight, participants face challenging conditions: 12°C temperatures and 95% humidity. They generate electricity via pedal boats and pump water from 45 meters deep, monitored remotely by surface scientists.
Étienne Koechlin, director of the Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience Lab at École Normale Supérieure (ENS), calls Deep Time a world first. Past isolation studies focused on physiological rhythms; this one uniquely measures effects on cognitive and emotional functions.
It echoes experiments by French geologist Michel Siffre, who demonstrated humanity's internal 24-hour clock. Advancing chronobiology, Siffre spent two months at 100 meters in Gouffre de Scarasson (Ligurian Alps).
