Woman who spent five days in complete darkness reveals disturbing effects she experienced
Dr Kiana Aran has found a new appreciation for life after spending five days in complete darkness.
In November 2024, the bioengineering professor at the University of California was left alone in a dark, silent cave in Poland to investigate how sensory deprivation affects the human body and mind.
Her plan, initially, was to see whether removing light, sound and everyday distractions could calm her constantly racing thoughts.
“As a faculty, my mind has been always racing. I have tried yoga, meditation to just calm my brain down, because I'm constantly thinking of, ‘Okay, what's next, what's next, what's next.’ I cannot sit still, and sometimes it gets too much,” she told The Scientist.
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While having sensors on throughout the experiment to track changes in her body, she had a bed, bathroom and shower, but no light, entertainment or contact with other people.
Food was delivered once a day at unpredictable times, making it difficult to tell whether it was day or night.
During the experiment, she experienced several disturbing psychological and physical effects:
Vivid hallucinations
Dr Aran saw her mother, cousin and grandmother, who had died years earlier, sitting together watching an iPad.
She couldn't tell whether she was dreaming or hallucinating.
Psychological distress
By the second day, Dr Aran found the isolation particularly difficult, becoming increasingly restless and desperate to leave.
"How am I going to stay another three days here? Because I was doing nothing," she said.
Dr Aran called it ‘a torture, sort of’, adding: "I just couldn't wait to come out."
Heightened taste and seeing 'objects'
Food flavours and textures became unusually intense, as tests later revealed increased levels of taste receptors in her saliva.
And despite being in complete darkness, she began perceiving outlines of objects.
Researchers also detected alterations in her immune response, gut microbiome and internal body clock.
Lasting emotional changes
After leaving, she reported feeling more grateful, patient and compassionate.
"I still carry [that feeling] with me," she admitted.
"I appreciate everything I have right now all around me."
Writing in Nature, Dr Aran added: “When I finally emerged from the cave on the fifth day, I embraced those waiting anxiously for me; the colleagues, the friends, the ones who had made this opportunity possible. In that moment, wanting to feel everything at once, I ran to the frozen lake nearby and dove in. The icy water bit into my skin, but after five days of darkness, it was the most vivid reminder that I was alive.”
Anish Vij