Sensory deprivation

"Study participants sat in a padded chair in the middle of an anechoic chamber, a room designed to dampen all sound and block out light. The researchers describe the setup as a “room within a room,” with thick outer walls and an inner chamber formed by metallic acoustic panels and a floating floor. In between the outer and inner walls are large fiberglass wedges. “This results in a very low-noise environment in which the sound pressure due to outside levels is below the threshold of hearing,” the researchers wrote."

http://www.wired.com/2009/10/hallucinations/

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/alone/

'We live in a dangerous era were solitary confinement and sensory deprivation are sometimes used as punishment even as political tools."

http://blog.bufferapp.com/the-power-of-shutting-down-your-senses-how-to-boost-your-creativity-and-have-a-clear-mind

"Then a transformation began. If you’ve ever taken psychedelic mushrooms (and come on, who hasn’t?) you might recall a certain feeling that arises as the drugs take hold. “Something is happening, something is happening,” your body says to your brain, with mild urgency. I got a feeling akin to that while floating. My brain went a little haywire. When the storm passed, I found myself in a new and unfamiliar state of mind."

Auditory input, like visual stimulation, is one that we don’t realize the prevalence of. Sounds areeverywhere. Unless you live far out in the countryside, you probably don’t ever get even a short period of time without any noise. If it’s not music or people talking around you, you can probably hear your neighbors, cars on the street outside or a dog barking down the street.

Imagine removing all of that input—just the sounds you hear—and what a huge impact that could make.

Try this: grab some ear plugs and headphones, and sit in a comfy spot by a window—really pay attention to what you see. And what you don’t hear. Even if you can’t block out all sound, you’ll notice the difference of muffling a lot of it.

In particular, when you remove the headphones, you’ll probably notice the intensity and variety of noises you’re hearing.