Woman Who Spent 500 Days Inside Cave Says She 'Lost Perception of Time'

An athlete who has spent the better part of the past two years living deep within a cave in the mountains of Spain with practically no contact with the outside world, has now emerged. Beatriz Flamini, the 50-year-old Spanish mountaineer, had undergone a 500-day challenge, living 230 feet deep inside the cave from November 20, 2021, to April 14, 2023, potentially breaking a world record. To pass the time, Flamini exercised, painted and knitted. She also got through 60 books during her time underground. She eventually lost all concept of time passing and documented her experience on two GoPro cameras. "On day 65, I stopped counting and lost perception of time," she told Reuters.

Flamini was to be monitored as part of research into the effects of social isolation and lack of contact, as well as loss of the day-night cycle, on the human brain and on circadian rhythms. Circadian rhythms are physical and behavioral changes across a 24-hour cycle. According to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, these patterns, which include feeling tired at night, and hungry at the times we usually eat meals, can affect body temperature and are controlled by a "master clock" in the brain. In vertebrate animals, this master clock is a cluster of around 20,000 neurons called the suprachiasmatic nucleus. This master clock is why we feel jet-lagged when we travel to the other side of the world, as our circadian rhythms are out of sync with the time of day. Flamini living in a cave with no natural light for such a long period provides researchers a prime opportunity to study how the brain adapts. As it turns out, she seemed to cope with the ordeal very well. "I didn't feel anything when I saw the light because to me it felt like I'd only just gone in there, so I didn't have that sensation of missing the light and the sun and all that's out there," she said when she exited the cave, as reported by the Guardian. "I'm being honest—I'm not going to lie." Flamini had no contact with anyone except her support team, who sent her fresh food and clothes, and removed her waste "every five poos." This rule of no communication even extended to world events and personal tragedy, as Flamini emerged with no idea about the Russian invasion of Ukraine or about a family death. "If it's no communication it's no communication regardless of the circumstances. The people who know me knew and respected that," she said. The Guinness World Record for the "longest time survived trapped underground" is currently held by the 33 Chilean and Bolivian miners who spent 69 days trapped at a depth of 2,257 ft in 2010. Flamini's cave stay broke that record, although it has not been confirmed by Guinness. A Guinness spokesperson could not confirm if voluntarily staying in a cave was a separate record, and whether or not Flamini has broken it, Reuters reported. "We are currently looking into this alongside our specialist consultants," a Guinness World Records spokesperson told Newsweek in an email reply. Newsweek has also reached out by email to the researchers studying Flamini. Previous research into the effects of social isolation found that it led to increased risks of depression and dementia, some types of cancer and cardiac issues.

Flamini said that she dealt with the isolation in her own ways. "I didn't talk to myself out loud, but I had internal conversations and got on very well with myself," she said "You have to remain conscious of your feelings. If you're afraid, that's something natural but never let panic in or you get paralyzed."

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Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about circadian rhythms? Let us know via science@newsweek.com. Correction 04/17/23, 10:39 a.m. ET: This article was updated to modify the headline and to clarify that Flamini had contact with her support team. Update 04/17/23, 11:35 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Guinness World Records.