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Isolation scientist’s legacy

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Anchor Marco Werman reports on the life and work of Italian sociologist Maurizio Montalbini, who died last week at the age of 56. Montalbini spent months at a time living alone in caves to study the effects of isolation. His work was used by NASA and some of the world’s top universities.

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MARCO WERMAN: I’m Marco Werman, and this is The World.  We’re taking a little time here to remember a man who did some pretty bizarre things in the name of science.  Maurizio Montalbini died last week at the age of 56. In the course of his work, the Italian sociologist spent a lot of time alone.  Really alone.  He lived for months in caves, all on his own.  Montalbini was studying how the mind and body cope with complete isolation. While in the caves, he lived on an astronaut’s diet:  powdered food and pills.  He also smoked a lot of tobacco.  Nearly two packs a day.  Montalbini kept himself busy by reading books.  He even wrote a novel. He said he enjoyed his time underground, except when there were earthquakes.  “One cannot fight solitude, one must make a friend of it,” he said after emerging from spending 210 days in a cave.  He actually thought he’d only been underground 79 days, because he lost track of time. Vincenzo Gentile was a friend and colleague of Maurizio Montalbini.  He says that one of the things his friend learned in a cave was that humans sleep more than they need to.

VINCENZO GENTILE: There was no connection with the outside world, so he didn’t check the time or anything.  He just slept when he fell asleep.  He ate when he felt hungry.  He discovered that, first of all, the life of human beings is a bit different without the sun. For example, he used to sleep for less hours than the average human being used to sleep, which means the average human being needs less time for sleeping.

WERMAN: Much less time than other human beings.  Montalbini would often stay awake for 50 hours at a time, then doze off for five.  The sociologist subsequently set up a permanent laboratory dedicated to isolation research.  He dubbed it “Underlab.” In the Underlab, Montalbini treated patients for sleep disorders and stress with techniques he called “Under-Therapy.”  Despite his apparent penchant for isolation, Montalbini said he much preferred the company of friends.  After a 235 day stint underground in 2006, Montalbini said, “I’m not going back in there. I need the sun. I used to dream about the dawn.” Maurizio Montalbini died last Saturday from a stroke.  His death is not believed to be related to his time underground.

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