With COVID-19 vaccines working and restrictions lifting across the country, its finally time for those now vaccinated whove been hunkered down at home to ditch the sweatpants and reemerge from their Netflix caves. But your brain may not be so eager to dive back into your former social life.
Social distancing measures proved essential for slowing COVID-19s spread worldwide preventing upward of an estimated 500 million cases. But, while necessary, 15 months away from each other has taken a toll on peoples mental health.
In a national survey last fall, 36% of adults in the U.S. including 61% of young adults reported feeling serious loneliness during the pandemic. Statistics like these suggest people would be itching to hit the social scene.
But if the idea of making small talk at a crowded happy hour sounds terrifying to you, youre not alone. Nearly half of Americans reported feeling uneasy about returning to in-person interaction regardless of vaccination status.
So how can people be so lonely yet so nervous about refilling their social calendars?
Well, the brain is remarkably adaptable. And while we cant know exactly what our brains have gone through over the last year, neuroscientists like me have some insight into how social isolation and resocialization affect the brain.
Humans have an evolutionarily hardwired need to socialize though it may not feel like it when deciding between a dinner invite and rewatching Schitts Creek.
From insects to primates, maintaining social networks is critical for survival in the animal kingdom. Social groups provide mating prospects, cooperative hunting and protection from predators.
But social homeostasis the right balance of social connections must be met. Small social networks cant deliver those benefits, while large ones increase competition for resources and mates. Because of this, human brains developed specialized circuitry to gauge our relationships and make the correct adjustments much like a social thermostat.
Social homeostasis involves many brain regions, and at the center is the mesocorticolimbic circuit or reward system. That same circuit motivates you to eat chocolate when you crave something sweet or swipe on Tinder when you crave well, you get it.
And like those motivations, a recent study found that reducing social interaction causes social cravings producing brain activity patterns similar to food deprivation.
So if people hunger for social connection like they hunger for food, what happens to the brain when you starve socially?
Scientists cant shove people into isolation and look inside their brains. Instead, researchers rely on lab animals to learn more about social brain wiring. Luckily, because social bonds are essential in the animal kingdom, these same brain circuits are found across species.
One prominent effect of social isolation is you guessed it increased anxiety and stress.
Many studies find that removing animals from their cage buddies increases anxiety-like behaviors and cortisol, the primary stress hormone. Human studies also support this, as people with small social circles have higher cortisol levels and other anxiety-related symptoms similar to socially deprived lab animals.
Evolutionarily this effect makes sense animals that lose group protection must become hypervigilant to fend for themselves. And it doesnt just occur in the wild. One study found that self-described lonely people are more vigilant of social threats like rejection or exclusion.
Another important region for social homeostasis is the hippocampus the brains learning and memory center. Successful social circles require you to learn social behaviors such as selflessness and cooperation and recognize friends from foes. But your brain stores tremendous amounts of information and must remove unimportant connections. So, like most of your high school Spanish if you dont use it, you lose it.
Several animal studies show that even temporary adulthood isolation impairs both social memory like recognizing a familiar face and working memory like recalling a recipe while cooking.
And isolated humans may be just as forgetful. Antarctic expeditioners had shrunken hippocampi after just 14 months of social isolation. Similarly, adults with small social circles are more likely to develop memory loss and cognitive decline later in life.
So, human beings might not be roaming the wild anymore, but social homeostasis is still critical to survival. Luckily, as adaptable as the brain is to isolation, the same may be true with resocialization.
Though only a few studies have explored the reversibility of the anxiety and stress associated with isolation, they suggest that resocialization repairs these effects.
One study, for example, found that formerly isolated marmosets first had higher stress and cortisol levels when resocialized but then quickly recovered. Adorably, the once-isolated animals even spent more time grooming their new buddies.
Social memory and cognitive function also seem to be highly adaptable.
Mouse and rat studies report that while animals cannot recognize a familiar friend immediately after short-term isolation, they quickly regain their memory after resocializing.
And there may be hope for people emerging from socially distanced lockdown as well. A recent Scottish study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic found that residents had some cognitive decline during the harshest lockdown weeks but quickly recovered once restrictions eased.
Unfortunately, studies like these are still sparse. And while animal research is informative, it likely represents extreme scenarios since people werent in total isolation over the last year. Unlike mice stuck in cages, many in the U.S. had virtual game nights and Zoom birthday parties (lucky us).
So power through the nervous elevator chats and pesky brain fog, because un-social distancing should reset your social homeostasis very soon.
[Understand new developments in science, health and technology, each week. Subscribe to The Conversations science newsletter.]
- Marcus Neuroscience Institute to Host Brain and Spine Symposium - South Florida Hospital News - March 30th, 2025 [March 30th, 2025]
- Elon University to launch neuroscience major in fall 2025 - Today at Elon - March 30th, 2025 [March 30th, 2025]
- The brains stalwart sentinels express an unexpected gene - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 30th, 2025 [March 30th, 2025]
- Video catches microglia in the act of synaptic pruning - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 30th, 2025 [March 30th, 2025]
- Null and Noteworthy: Reexamining registered reports - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 30th, 2025 [March 30th, 2025]
- Accepting the bitter lesson and embracing the brains complexity - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 30th, 2025 [March 30th, 2025]
- NIH neurodevelopmental assessment system now available as iPad app - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 30th, 2025 [March 30th, 2025]
- Stronger Bonds Before Birth Shape Healthier Mother-Child Futures - Neuroscience News - March 30th, 2025 [March 30th, 2025]
- How Emotionally Intelligent People Learn to Control Their Inner Voice, Backed by Neuroscience - Inc. - March 30th, 2025 [March 30th, 2025]
- Gabriele Scheler reflects on the interplay between language, thought and AI - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 30th, 2025 [March 30th, 2025]
- Worlds first crowd-sourced neuroscience study aims to understand how our brains predict the future - EurekAlert - March 15th, 2025 [March 15th, 2025]
- Rewriting Neuroscience: Possible Foundations of Human Intelligence Observed for the First Time - SciTechDaily - March 15th, 2025 [March 15th, 2025]
- Calculating neurosciences carbon cost: Q&A with Stefan Pulver and William Smith - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 15th, 2025 [March 15th, 2025]
- The future of neuroscience research at U.S. minority-serving institutions is in danger - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 15th, 2025 [March 15th, 2025]
- Dopamine and social media: Why you cant stop scrolling, according to neuroscience - PsyPost - March 15th, 2025 [March 15th, 2025]
- Neuroscience Discovered a Clever Trick for Squeezing More Joy Out of Everyday Pleasures - Inc. - March 15th, 2025 [March 15th, 2025]
- The limits of neuroscience - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 15th, 2025 [March 15th, 2025]
- BPOM Explains The Benefits Of Fasting From The Health And Neuroscience Side - VOI English - March 15th, 2025 [March 15th, 2025]
- How tiny tardigrades could help tackle systems neuroscience questions - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 15th, 2025 [March 15th, 2025]
- Alison Preston explains how our brains form mental frameworks for interpreting the world - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 15th, 2025 [March 15th, 2025]
- The Mystical Mind Meets Neuroscience: Seeking the Roots of Consciousness - Next Big Idea Club Magazine - March 15th, 2025 [March 15th, 2025]
- Myosin Therapeutics Closes Second Seed Round to Advance Clinical Trials for Innovative Cancer and Neuroscience Therapies - PR Newswire - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Neuroscience Ph.D. programs adjust admissions in response to U.S. funding uncertainty - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- New tools help make neuroimaging accessible to more researchers - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Future Thinking Training Reduces Impulsivity - Neuroscience News - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Null and Noteworthy, relaunched: Probing a schizophrenia biomarker - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- How to communicate the value of curiosity-driven research - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Cognitive neuroscience approach to explore the impact of wind turbine noise on various mental functions - Nature.com - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Football on the Brain: Helping coaches embed neuroscience knowledge - Training Ground Guru - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Taking Control: Using Neuroscience to Build Better Lives - theLoop - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Creating a pipeline of talent to feed the growth of Neuroscience: Lessons from Ghana - Myjoyonline - March 5th, 2025 [March 5th, 2025]
- Exclusive: NIH appears to archive policy requiring female animals in studies - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Roll On Down The Highway 2025 Tour coming to Neuroscience Group Field - WeAreGreenBay.com - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- STEM organizations host Neuroscience Outreach Fair for local K-12 students - University of Virginia The Cavalier Daily - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Adapt or die: Safeguarding the future of diversity and inclusion funding in neuroscience - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- The last two-author neuroscience paper? - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Gate Neurosciences Strengthens Focus on the Synapse as a Therapeutic Target with Acquisition of Boost Neuroscience - Business Wire - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Why Firefly Neuroscience, Inc. (AIFF) Is Soaring This Year So Far - Yahoo Finance - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Breaking the barrier between theorists and experimentalists - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Preserving Brain Health and Advancing Neuroscience - University of Miami - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Science must step away from nationally managed infrastructure - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Repurposed Blood Pressure Drug May Treat ADHD - Neuroscience News - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- How to teach students about science funding - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Reflecting on 2024: Advancing Neuroscience Research to Improve Neurological Health - National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Brains Hidden Circuitry for Risk and Reward Uncovered - Neuroscience News - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Why We Keep Exploring Even After Learning the Best Strategy - Neuroscience News - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Unlocking Cellular Youth: The Protein That Reverses Aging - Neuroscience News - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- This paper changed my Life: Bill Newsome reflects on a quadrilogy of classic visual perception studies - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and... - February 25th, 2025 [February 25th, 2025]
- Roundup: The false association between vaccines and autism - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Static pay, shrinking prospects fuel neuroscience postdoc decline - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Stimulating the brain with Damien Fair - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Unhealthy Diet Linked to Faster Biological Aging in Young Adults - Neuroscience News - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Bob Smittcamp Family Neuroscience Institute coming to Fresno in 2026 - ABC30 News - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Norton Neuroscience Institute selected to pilot national Brain Health Navigator program - Norton Healthcare - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Coding bonus: Bats hippocampal cells log spatial, social cues - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- ADHD and brainwaves: How neuroscience is changing the way we diagnose the condition - PsyPost - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- David Robbe challenges conventional notions of time and memory - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- How the Brain Processes Space and Time - Neuroscience News - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Using neuroscience to help establish healthier habits | Opinion - South Bend Tribune - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- Solvonis chairman on heavy-hitting M&A in neuroscience sector - ICYMI - Proactive Investors UK - February 3rd, 2025 [February 3rd, 2025]
- New neuroscience research sheds light on distinct patterns of learning and generalization in autistic adults - PsyPost - January 23rd, 2025 [January 23rd, 2025]
- Neuroscientists need to do better at explaining basic mental health research - The Transmitter: Neuroscience News and Perspectives - January 23rd, 2025 [January 23rd, 2025]
- How Severance shows the possibilities of cognitive neuroscience - Fast Company - January 23rd, 2025 [January 23rd, 2025]
- AdventHealth Welcomes New Leadership In Heart and Vascular Services, Neuroscience and Orthopedics - Northwest Georgia News - January 23rd, 2025 [January 23rd, 2025]
- School of Neuroscience and Language Sciences Program recognized with University Exemplary Department or Program Award - Virginia Tech - January 23rd, 2025 [January 23rd, 2025]
- Early Exposure to Violent Media Linked to Teen Antisocial Behavior - Neuroscience News - January 23rd, 2025 [January 23rd, 2025]
- The Real Cognitive Neuroscience Behind Severance - WIRED - January 23rd, 2025 [January 23rd, 2025]
- The 15 most popular psychology and neuroscience studies in 2024 - PsyPost - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- The 'lizard brain' lie: How neuroscience demolished the greatest mind myth - BBC Science Focus - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- Revolutionizing Brain Diagnostics with Light and AI - Neuroscience News - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- How Early Experiences Shape Genes, Brain Health, and Resilience - Neuroscience News - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- A nation exhausted: The neuroscience of why Americans are tuning out political news - Indiana Capital Chronicle - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- Lithium Restores Brain Function and Behavior in Autism - Neuroscience News - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- Partners in Diversity presents the science of belonging: exploring the neuroscience of inclusion - Here is Oregon - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- Classical vs. Operant Conditioning: The Brain's Memory Tug-of-War - Neuroscience News - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- The Personality Gap Between Singles and the Partnered - Neuroscience News - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- The Neuroscience Behind Vermeers Girl and Its Hypnotic Power - ZME Science - January 1st, 2025 [January 1st, 2025]
- Serotonin, GABA, and Dopamine Drive Hunger and Feeding - Neuroscience News - December 23rd, 2024 [December 23rd, 2024]
- A nation exhausted: The neuroscience of why Americans are tuning out politics - The Conversation - December 23rd, 2024 [December 23rd, 2024]
- UNO Goalie and Neuroscience Grad Shines in Her Athletic and Academic Aspirations - University of Nebraska Omaha - December 23rd, 2024 [December 23rd, 2024]