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Never before have we experienced social isolation on a massive scale as we have during the evolving COVID-19 pandemic. A new paper published in the journal聽聽explores the wide-ranging, negative consequences that social isolation has on our psychological well-being and physical health, including decreased life span. The paper was co-authored by聽Associate Professor聽Danilo Bzdok聽(UU直播 and Mila Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute) and聽Emeritus Professor聽Robin Dunbar聽(University of Oxford).

Through examining a broad range of studies, a full picture emerged of the severe impact that loneliness can have:

• having strong interpersonal relationships is critical for survival across the entire lifespan;
• social isolation is a significant predictor of the risk of death;
• insufficient social stimulation affects reasoning and memory performances, hormone homeostasis, brain grey/white-matter, connectivity and function, as well as resilience to physical and mental disease;
• feelings of loneliness can spread through a social network, causing negatively skewed social perception, escalating morbidity and mortality, and, in older people, precipitating the onset of dementia such as Alzheimer鈥檚 disease.

Loneliness directly impairs the immune system, making us less resistant to diseases and infections. Indeed, feeling lonely and having few friends can result in a particularly poor immune defence. People who are more socially integrated, however, have better adjusted biomarkers for physiological function, including lower systolic blood pressure, lower body mass index, and lower levels of C-reactive protein (another molecular response to inflammation).

Humans are intensely social and benefit psychologically and physically from social interaction. The tighter we are embedded in a network of friends, for example, the less likely we are to become ill and the higher our rates of survival. People who belong to more groups, such as sports clubs, church, hobby groups, have been found to reduce their risk of future depression by almost 25%.

Associate Professor聽Department of Biomedical Engineering at UU直播聽聽& Canada CIFAR Artificial Intelligence Chair Danilo Bzdok, said:聽鈥淲e are social creatures. Social interplay and cooperation have fuelled the rapid ascent of human culture and civilization. Yet, social species struggle when forced to live in isolation. From babies to the elderly, psychosocial embedding in interpersonal relationships is critical for survival. It is now more urgent than ever to narrow the knowledge gap of how social isolation impacts the human brain as well as mental and physical well-being.鈥�

Emeritus Professor of Evolutionary Psychology Robin Dunbar, said: 鈥淟oneliness has accelerated in the past decade. Given the potentially severe consequences this can have on our mental and physical health, there is growing recognition and political will to confront this evolving societal challenge.听 As one consequence, the United Kingdom has launched the 鈥楥ampaign to End Loneliness鈥� 鈥� a network of over 600 national, regional and local organizations to create the right conditions for reducing loneliness in later life. Such efforts speak to the growing public recognition and political will to confront this evolving societal challenge. These concerns can only be exacerbated if there are prolonged periods of social isolation imposed by national policy responses to extraordinary crises such as COVID-19.鈥�

About the study

鈥淭he Neurobiology of Social Distance鈥� was published in聽Trends in Cognitive Sciences.听

DOI:

About UU直播

Founded in Montreal, Quebec, in 1821, UU直播 is Canada鈥檚 top ranked medical doctoral university. UU直播 is consistently ranked as one of the top universities, both nationally and internationally. It 鈥痠s a world-renowned 鈥痠nstitution of higher learning with research activities spanning two campuses, 11 faculties, 13 professional schools, 300 programs of study and over 40,000 students, including more than 10,200 graduate students. UU直播 attracts students from over 150 countries around the world, its 12,800 international students making up 31% of the student body. Over half of UU直播 students claim a first language other than English, including approximately 19% of our students who say French is their mother tongue.

Source:聽University of Oxford