Hallucinations when wearing blindfolds for several hours

According to a study, blindfolding is enough to produce visual hallucinations within a few hours.

In a 2004 study, scientists at Harvard Medical School blindfolded a group of 13 people. Harvard Medical School blindfolded a group of 13 people who were to be blindfolded for several hours. who were blindfolded for five days. Throughout these 96 hours, these people reported their experiences with the help of a tape recorder. The subjects selected were men and women between the ages of 18 and 35 with no medical history of cognitive dysfunction, psychosis or ocular pathology.

None of these people were on medication. The results indicate that total light deprivation over the eyes is sufficient to produce visual hallucinations within a few hours. within a few hours.

Study data

During this experiment, 10 out of these 13 blindfolded people (77%) experienced visual hallucinations. These strange images varied in intensity and complexity, some of them consisting of simple points of light and others of figures, such as a light Elvis Presley. Moreover, none of these hallucinations referred to past experiences, they were new images.

Some examples:

Subject 1 (female, 29 years old). Experiences a single hallucination, 12 hours after starting to wear the bandage. It occurs while standing in front of a mirror, and consists of a green face with large eyes. She is very frightened by this vision.

Subject 5 (female, 29 years old). During the first day she sees circles of light, an image that will be repeated during the course of the week. On the second day she has the sensation of seeing her arms and hands moving and leaving a trail of light when she moves her real ones.

Subject 6 (male, 34 years old). Reports numerous hallucinations experienced while listening to Mozart's Requiem. Mozart RequiemThe outline of a skull turning to stare at the subject. On another occasion, also listening to the Requiem, he sees the silhouette of someone wearing a kind of ceremonial mask and a headdress. This person has his face turned upside down and his mouth open. In a third hearing of the same piece of music, he sees an older woman with a very wrinkled face and a menacing look. She is sitting on an airplane seat and is wearing a red eye shield similar to those worn by people who have to protect themselves from X-rays. Then, this person's face takes the shape of a mouse's face. Throughout the days the hallucinations continue, some of them with a stroboscopic effect.

Subject 8 (female, 20 years old). At 12 hours she begins to experience hallucinations suddenly. Some consist of transforming figures, such as a butterfly that metamorphoses into a sunset, an otter and finally a flower. He also sees cities, lions and sunsets so bright that he "can hardly look in their direction". All of these hallucinations have movement. He places great emphasis on the beauty of some of these apparitions: "sometimes they were far more beautiful than anything I have ever seen.... I wish I could paint".

Subject 9 (male, 27 years old). Sees flashes of light for the first 24 hours. Later reports seeing glowing peacock feathers and buildings of light.

All hallucinations ceased when the bandage was removed or a few hours later. These experiences can be explained as the result of a restructuring of the brain's nerve connections as it tries to adapt to the lack of light. This is a process that may resemble that which produces phantom limb syndrome in people with amputated limbs.