Loneliness a different perspective 2

Social isolation in childhood and in late adulthood both have an impact on neurobiological architecture and functional organization. The ensuing loss of social and cognitive capacity has significant public health consequences. On the individual scale, this can result in people becoming less socially engaged and, hence, at greater risk of developing antisocial behaviour. The result is likely to be a drain on the public purse, either in terms of caring for individuals in psychological and physical decline or of the incarceration of disorderly individuals. If social isolation during development happens on a sufficiently large scale, it is likely to have significant consequences for community stability and social cohesion.

These prospects should encourage us to search for means to mitigate possible negative backlash. Social isolation at a massive scale risks creating cohorts of individuals who are less socially functional. It may, therefore, be important to identify ways of mitigating the worst of the effects to alleviate the consequences. The following possible countermeasures may be worth exploring.

One promising intervention would involve creating opportunities where mutual social support relationships (friendships) can develop naturally. One cannot, however, force people to become friends: both parties need to be willing to devote resources to each other in a context where the time budget available for social engagement is limited  and there are competing friendship interests. However, by providing more opportunities for people to meet in congenial environments, new friendships may blossom.

Social neuroscientists undertook a longitudinal intervention study of 332 matched adults who underwent regular training sessions. Several months of cognitive training improved empathy for others’ affective state or perspective-taking of others’ mental state, which resulted in structural remodeling in brain regions belonging to the social brain network, including the frontoinsular network and the default mode network. Daily affective training resulted in thickening of the right anterior and mid-insula, with correspondingly enhanced compassion ratings. Different training regimes correlated with different brain regions.

One important lesson is that joining clubs can have important benefits in reducing both a sense of loneliness and psycho- logical or psychiatric conditions. One obvious solution is to encourage vulnerable individuals to join social groups and communities that suit their interests and abilities. Establishing a wide range of such clubs is likely to be much cheaper than paying for care homes and prisons.

Singing is known to have a dramatic, immediate effect on creating a sense of social engagement and elevating psychological well-being (the 'ice-breaker effect'. Vulnerable individuals could be encouraged to join choirs and community singing groups. Encouragement and funding may need to be invested in establishing a network of choirs.

Use of video-embedded digital communication is likely to gain in importance. This is especially true where family and friendship groups can meet in the same virtual space. The visual component of the interpersonal encounter appears to play a key role in creating a more satisfying experience of digital social media.

The report ends with two interesting questions:

1.  Across the entire lifespan, to what extent does reduced social stimulation or too few social contacts diminish the general capacities of the cognitive range?

2.  How much do people struggling with cognitive load have issues maintaining many active social relationships?  New insight in this chicken-and-egg problem will shed light on the cause of loneliness and may usher in new intervention strategies