Social isolation creates craving in the same brain region as wanting food or addictive drugs, study finds
- Reference: 1606220591
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/11/24/social_isolation_brain_craving/
- Source link:
In a quest to understand the effects of social isolation during a global pandemic, the researchers recruited a group of 40 subjects to undergo a 10-hour session of isolation from in-person and online social interactions. They also had to endure the same time fasting as part of the study.
After each session, those taking part in the study viewed images of social interactions, such as people laughing, smiling and physical proximity while having their brains analysed with a magnetic resonance imaging scanner. They were also shown pictures of creamy cheesy pasta and fresh berries in the illustration used in the journal Nature Neuroscience . As a control, they were additionally presented with pictures of flowers.
Brain scans revealed that the same midbrain region associated with reward and novelty responses consistent with dopaminergic activity – substantia nigra pars compacta and ventral tegmental – showed greater responses to social images after isolation and to food images after fasting.
"After isolation, social cues evoke neural signatures of craving. In primates, aversive motivation – a negative state such as hunger or pain that motivates behavior to relieve the state – is represented in the SN/VTA24 and the SN/VTA is activated by craving for food and for drugs of addiction," [1]the paper said .
However, the cravings resulting from social isolation were specific to those social stimuli, research associate Dr Livia Tomova and her colleagues found.
The researchers said they hoped the study could help contribute to a greater understanding of the impact of social isolation during a period when it has, to some extent, been mandated by governments to mitigate the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
"A vital question is how much, and what kinds of, positive social interaction is sufficient to fulfil our social needs and thus eliminate the neural craving response," the paper said. "Technological advances offer incessant opportunities to be virtually connected with others, despite physical separations. Yet, some have argued that using social media only exacerbates subjective feelings of isolation.
"The potential for virtual interactions to fulfil social needs is particularly relevant when large populations are required to self-isolate, for example during a global pandemic.
"This unprecedented upheaval in people's social routines emphasized the need for a better understanding of human social needs and the neural mechanisms underlying social motivation." ®
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[1] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-020-00742-z
[2] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Who would have guessed
Yes science stating the bleedin' obvious can be exasperating, even when accompanied by new measurements (brainscans!) which provide actual data in support of the obvious. But it's a necessary part of science. It's also a lot less embarrassing than "We never bothered to look, as we thought it was obvious what would happen. We were wrong. And now [competitor] has published the result, and will scoop up the grant money."
Yeah, surprise me.
Humans are social creatures - we need it. Lockdowns drive anxiety, depression and feelings of isolation. Suicides up, domestic abuse up, divorce rates up. It's not rocket science, and this will be felt for years to come.
Re: Yeah, surprise me.
WFH since before Lockdown, as we have a leader who, you know, understands science and listens to experts.
Rant aside, we won't be back into the office till at least July next year. I'm thankful that my flat mate works from home for two days a week, but it's bloody lonely the rest of the time, even working for a company that fully embraced video conf'ing over a decade ago.
Re: Yeah, surprise me.
Pfft! You should try being an old single retired bloke, with nothing to do anymore.
Pesky kids think they know everything about life ...
/s
Statistics anyone?
Every time I read these brain scan stories, I think that they have a good chance of being total bollocks. (1) Because your average psychologist knows fuck all about statistics, and (2) because I remember this:-
'as the fish sat in the scanner, they showed it "a series of photographs depicting human individuals in social situations." To maintain the rigor of the protocol [], the salmon, just like a human test subject, "was asked to determine what emotion the individual in the photo must have been experiencing." The salmon [] "was not alive at the time of scanning."'
https://www.wired.com/2009/09/fmrisalmon/
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/sep/21/ig-nobel-awards-dead-salmon
p.s. I'm sure that _these_ psychologists are highly skilled at stats. The problem is that psychology experiments don't work anymore because of informed consent issues. You think Milgram would be allowed these days?
p.p.s. If you are asked to be in a psychology experiment, just remember that everyone else in it except you is a stooge!
Introvertz Rule!
Finally our time of world domination has come. Laughing to scorn the feeble mental resources of our pack-animal "brethren" we stride ahead in lock-down adversity, sloughing off stress and anxiety with a merry quip, able to climb our won mountains and eat our own pizzas without a support group.
We knew it was only a matter of waiting long enough. But we have the last laugh hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!
I... don't think so
However, the cravings resulting from social isolation were specific to those social stimuli, research associate Dr Livia Tomova and her colleagues found.
Tell that to my bathroom scales.... I have the feeling that the social isolation does in fact influence the craving for food.
10 hours Is Not Social Isoloation
10 days maybe.
YMMV
AAC
Re: 10 hours Is Not Social Isoloation[sic]
But it included online...
10 hours without the internet. No Facebook. No Instagram. No Whatsapp. No Youtube. And worst of all, no fooling about on the Register's comment section, sharing your pearls of wisdom with like-minded commentards. For 10 hours.
The horror. They might have had to, I don't know, read a book or something.
Re: 10 hours Is Not Social Isoloation[sic]
You have just described Nirvana.
Thankyou.
Re: 10 hours Is Not Social Isoloation[sic]
Oh God, please give me waking 10 hours where I don't have to interact with anyone!
Seriously. I've taken no leave (nor been furloughed) since the pandemic began. Turns out IT is pretty core for a lot of companies. Several things have gone wrong at home, requiring extensive time and effort to fix. I ended up being drafted in for jury duty. My other half works from home and is really suffering from isolation, so I'm trying to spend as much time with her as can be managed.
I could really use a 10 hour break...
Who would have guessed
That social interaction stimulates the pleasure centres of a social animal's brain.
While it is nice to have scientific corroboration, sometimes it exasperates me when scientists state the bleedin' obvious as if it were a new discovery. Without a social drive there would be no civilisation or the level of technology that we have.