Effects of isolation on adolescent cognition

Abstract

Loneliness and isolation are increasing in societies all around the world, particularly in young people (Hammond 2019, Twenge 2019). Animal research has consistently shown that a lack of social interaction leads to increased reward sensitivity, higher anxiety and inflexibility during learning – particularly during adolescence (Tomova et al. 2019, Orben et al. 2020). Yet, it is unclear how well results from animal models of isolation can be translated to humans. Do social isolation and loneliness in human adolescents cause similar modulations in brain function and cognition? Previous research in adult humans has shown that acute loneliness affects brain functioning in a similar level as food craving after fasting (Tomova et al. 2020). Here, we assessed how short-term isolation of 3-4 hours affects feelings of loneliness and behavioural measures of reward processing (including reward responsiveness and reward learning) and fear learning in adolescents aged 16-19 years. We also assessed whether access to virtual social interactions mitigates the effects of isolation. We find that short-term isolation affects self-reported feelings of loneliness, reward processing and fear learning in adolescents. Access to virtual social interactions remediates some, but not all effects of isolation. The implications of this research in the light of adolescent loneliness and mental health problems will be discussed.

Bio

I am interested in how loneliness, social isolation and stress affect the brain and mind, especially during adolescent development. I mainly use neuroimaging in combination with multi-voxel pattern analysis methods (MVPA and RSA) to address my research questions.

My PhD research at the Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit at University of Vienna (supervised by Claus Lamm) focused on the effects of acute stress on neural correlates of empathy. I then completed 3 years of postdoctoral training in Cognitive Neuroscience at the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT (working with Rebecca Saxe) investigating how deprivation of social needs affects the human brain. Since 2020, I am a Henslow Research Fellowship at Hughes Hall at University of Cambridge (working with Sarah-Jayne Blakemore). 

Livia Tomova