Loneliness leads to changes in the brain and depression
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Scientists from the University of Buffalo and the Sinai School of Medicine have found that prolonged loneliness can provoke damage to nerve connections, in particular, damage the layer of insulation that allows them to pass through the signals without loss.
The results of the work of specialists are published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
This discovery scientists did with the help of experiments performed on mice. One part of the rodents spent eight weeks in isolation, sitting in solitary cages. This led them to a depressed state, as in most laboratories and in natural conditions, animals live in groups.
After analyzing the brain of mice, specialists found that the myelin layer, which is located between nerve fibers that connect different parts of the brain to each other, decreased. Myelin is a mixture of proteins and lipids, which provides electrical isolation, which allows nerves to transmit signals from cell to cell with little or no loss.
Significant destruction of myelin interlayer is observed in people with multiple sclerosis, which leads to death. Despite not a large scale, experimental animals have a similar process.
Experts were able to find out how these damages occur.
"Our experiments show that in the cells that produce the myelin insulating layer, the activity of a number of important genes in the process decreases," said Dr Ditz, lead author of the study. "If you follow the nature of the changes, it will be seen that oligodendrocytes are special cells, can not mature in the brain of isolated animals to the end, which leads to a decrease in the production of myelin."
According to scientists, this process is reversible. After the isolated mouse re-enters the community of fellow humans, the oligodendrocytes mature and the process of producing myelin isolation is restored again.
The authors of the study believe that their studies for the first time make it possible to see that the processes of brain restructuring are significantly influenced by external factors, not just by neurons and other cells.
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