Total Isolation

Psychologists subject six volunteers to a world without stimulation. For the first time in 40 years Horizon re-creates a controversial sensory deprivation experiment. Six ordinary people are taken to a nuclear bunker and left alone for 48 hours. Three subjects are left alone in dark, sound-proofed rooms, while the other three are given goggles and foam cuffs, while white noise is piped into their ears. The original experiments carried out in the 1950s and 60s by leading psychologist Prof Donald Hebb, was thought by many in the North American political and scientific establishment to be too cruel and were discontinued. Prof Ian Robbins, head of trauma psychology at St George's Hospital, Tooting, has been treating some of the British Guantanamo detainees and the victims of torture who come to the UK from across the world. Now he evaluates the volunteers as their brains undergo strange alterations.

Other episodes for this season

How to Kill a Human Being
Episode 1 - How to Kill a Human Being
Total Isolation
Episode 2 - Total Isolation
What on Earth is Wrong With Gravity?
Episode 3 - What on Earth is Wrong Wi...
Is Alcohol Worse than Ecstasy?
Episode 4 - Is Alcohol Worse than Ecs...
How to Make Better Decisions
Episode 5 - How to Make Better Decisi...
How to Live to be 101
Episode 6 - How to Live to be 101
Prof. Regan's Supermarket Secrets
Episode 7 - Prof. Regan's Supermarket...
Are we Alone in the Universe?
Episode 8 - Are we Alone in the Unive...
How Much is Your Dead Body Worth?
Episode 9 - How Much is Your Dead Bod...
How Does Your Memory Work?
Episode 10 - How Does Your Memory Work...
The President's Guide to Science
Episode 11 - The President's Guide to...
How Mad Are You? (1 of 2)
Episode 12 - How Mad Are You? (1 of 2)
How Mad Are You? (2 of 2)
Episode 13 - How Mad Are You? (2 of 2)
Jimmy's GM Food Fight
Episode 14 - Jimmy's GM Food Fight
Do You Know What Time It Is?
Episode 15 - Do You Know What Time It...
Allergy Planet
Episode 16 - Allergy Planet
Where's My Robot?
Episode 17 - Where's My Robot?