Experiment Altered state of consciousness after 10 minutes of direct eye contact

Bizarre experiment: Ten-minute eye contact leads to hallucinations

An Italian researcher has found in an experiment that intense eye contact between two healthy people can cause an altered state of consciousness. The following sensations are similar to a mild "dissociation".

Look in the eyes for ten minutes

An Italian psychologist claims that he has found a simple way to bring about an altered state of consciousness in healthy people. As reported on the "Research Digest" portal of the British Psychological Society, the researcher found that two people who look each other's eyes in a dimly-lit room for ten minutes feel "mild". Dissociation "are similar. The results of the scientist were published in the journal "Psychiatry Research".

An experiment has shown that people who look into their eyes for ten minutes may experience an altered state of consciousness. (Image: Patrick Daxenbichler / fotolia.com)

Experiment in dimly lit room

For his experiment, Giovanni Caputo had 20 young adults (15 women) form pairs, sitting opposite each other in a large, dimly lit room at a distance of one meter.

According to Caputo, the illuminance allowed "a detailed perception of the fine facial features", but only a "weakened color perception".

The task of the participants was simply to look each other in the eyes for ten minutes while maintaining a neutral face expression.

A control group of another 20 participants also sat in pairs in a dimly lit room, but their chairs faced the wall so they stared at them.

Both groups had been told that the study would include a "meditative experience with open eyes".

Some subjects saw aspects of their own face with the other person

At the end of the ten minutes, subjects completed three questionnaires: the first was an 18-point test for dissociative conditions, the other two asked questions about their experiences with the other person's face.

The group's participants, looking at each other's eyes, said that they had an experience that was different from anything they had felt before.

The test of dissociative states showed a correlation with reduced color intensity and altered perception of noise.

In the questionnaire with the stranger's face, 90 percent of the group agreed with regard to the eyes that they had seen some deformed facial features.

75 percent said they saw a monster, and 50 percent said they saw aspects of their own face as opposed to the other, and 15 percent said they saw a relative's face.

Researchers can not explain the observed effect yet

Caputo believes that the hallucinations are a kind of rebound effect, as the participants in the group returned to "reality" from the point of view of the eyes following dissociation.

In dissociation sufferers lose touch with reality. For those affected, the world seems unreal, it can lead to memory loss and unusual perceptual experiences, such as seeing the world in black and white.

The researcher also pointed out that his conclusion is largely speculation and that the study should be considered preliminary.

Previous experiments have shown that merely staring at a spot on the wall for a longer period of time can cause dissociative conditions, as well as looking at one's own face in the mirror.

Why this is so, is not yet clear. And also not why the effect turned out to look much more intense. (Ad)