A group of volunteers french emerged from a cave after spending 40 days undergoing a study exploring the limits of human adaptability in isolation.

The 15 participants lived in the Lombrives cave in the southwest of France no phones, watches, or sunlight.

They slept in tents, generated their own electricity and had no contact with the outside world.

The aim of the project was to test how people respond when they lose sense of time and space.

The so-called Deep Time experiment culminated on Saturday, with the exit of the cave of eight men and seven women, aged between 27 and 50, who had taken part.

Scientists supervising the project entered the cave a day earlier to tell them that the experiment was nearing completion.

Smiling but looking confused, the group left voluntary isolation amid applause. Carried dark glasses to allow your eyes to adjust to the sunlight.

For 40 days and 40 nights the volunteers lived in a cave exchanging modern comforts for basic necessities. (Photo: Getty Images).

Explorer and scientist Christian Clot (center) is the project leader. (Photo: Getty Images).

Explorer and scientist Christian Clot (center) is the project leader.

The project manager, French-Swiss explorer Christian Clot, said time seemed to pass more slowly in the cave.

A volunteer, Marina Lançon, 33, explained that the experiment “It was like hitting the pause button” of the life.

During isolation, the group had to organize tasks without having the measure of time to set deadlines.

Instead, they had to rely on their biological clocks and sleep cycles to structure their days.

In the cave, they had few modern conveniences at their disposal. For example, volunteers had to produce its own electricity with a pedal generator and draw water from a well 45 meters deep.

Most of the volunteers agreed that time seemed to pass more slowly inside the cave. (Photo: Getty Images).

Most of the volunteers agreed that time seemed to pass more slowly inside the cave.

The scientists who organized the project say it will help them understand how people can adapt to living under extreme conditions.

Before the volunteers entered the cave, their brain activity and cognitive functions were analyzed and then used in later comparative studies.

The objective of the study has a particular relevance during the coronavirus pandemic, a time when confinement measures have put millions of people in isolation.

“Our future as humans on this planet will evolve,” declared Clot. “We must learn to better understand how our brains can find new solutions, whatever the situation.”

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