Social Starvation: The Effect of COVID-19 on Our Brains

Within the first few months of the year 2019, every aspect of our world was flipped upside-down and unkindly accosted by the COVID-19 virus. Due to the grave risk of fatality due to the virus as well as the uncertainty that preceded its emergence, everyone was obligated to stay at home in order to reduce the risk of its spreading. These stay-at-home orders were soon implemented after learning of the fatal effects of the virus. This led to an eruption of sole reliance on digital communication not only for purposes of frivolous socialization but also for school and work. In this world that absolutely requires us to socialize in order to learn and make money, we suddenly simply could not, and reasonably so for the sake of protecting each other’s health. 

However, people are social animals; socialization is a fundamental need. Building strong, healthy relationships with others is imperative for our emotional and mental growth. Clearly, person-to-person interaction is how we can attain this; therefore, many of us were apprehensive of the effects that stay-at-home orders would have on our mental health. After all, we need socialization the same way that we need food. 

But do we truly need socialization in the same way that we need food? Psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman, in his article “Forced Social Isolation Causes Neural Craving Similar to Hunger,” said that if this is truly the case, “then its deprivation should show similar effects on the brain and behavior as the deprivation of other basic needs such as food and sleep.” Kaufman highlights research that shows that we indeed do. 

However, first we should explore how exactly desire for necessities such as food and socialization can affect our behavior in the first place. Dr. Wambura Fobbs recently gave a seminar on a Zoom call hosted by Loyola University Chicago’s Dr. Robert Morrison. There, she presented research completed in her lab wherein they are greatly interested in the implications that striatal dopamine has on obesity and binge-eating disorder. According to Dr. Fobbs, the biological and psychological influences of diet can be observed in the brain. In her lab, they observed mice’s intake of a high-fat diet (HFD) versus chow (bland, unpalatable food) and its effects on their weight. When given the option between HFD and chow, mice will choose HFD, which Dr. Fobbs would have highlighted to show how that choice’s effect causes mice to increasingly gain weight. Mice will choose the tastier food (HFD) to satisfy themselves; they will almost want the tastier food. 

Kaufman explains that when we want something, dopamine transmission increases in the brain reward circuit, which consists of the dopaminergic midbrain and striatum. For example, they are active in response to images of food shown to people who are hungry and images of drugs shown to people who are addicted. 

The author points to Rebecca Saxe et al.’s research in “The need to connect: Acute social isolation causes neural craving responses similar to hunger” wherein forty human adults spent 10 hours (from 9 A.M. to 7 P.M.) in isolation – no access to other humans to interact with, not even digitally. And similarly, participants fasted for 10 hours. Using fMRI, researchers found that there was similar midbrain activity in both those who fasted and those who were isolated: “Midbrain regions showed increased activation to food cues after fasting and to social cues after isolation; these responses were correlated with self-reported craving” (Saxe et al., 2020). (The self-reports made on craving should not be undermined, because the only way we can assess mental health is through self-report) . 

That being said, people’s concerns for mental health deterioration during stay-at-home orders should not be undermined either. The global pandemic has caused a mental health epidemic. As Kaufman and Saxe point out, we need socialization the way we need food, and there is evidence to show: we typically want the tastier option, whatever will satisfy our craving, and if people are presented with the opportunity to socialize, then they will get it. And perhaps this explains why people are collectively having a hard time following stay-at-home orders. The question always remains: How can we make everyone happy? 

References 

Fobbs, Wambura. (2021, December 7). Leveraging neural recording & behavior to better understand how diet impacts cognition [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.dropbox.com/sh/7dgpx2d6hnkj540/AABaeS1V3FrSn2MIb0-jsRyla/(12.07.21)%20-%20Fobbs?dl=0&preview=Fobbs_researchtalk.mp4&subfolder_nav_tracking=1. 

Kaufman, S. B. (2020, May 19). Forced Social Isolation Causes Neural Craving Similar to Hunger. Scientific American Blog Network. Retrieved December 16, 2021, from https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/forced-social-isolation-causes-neural-craving-similar-to-hunger/. 

Tomova, L., Wang, K. L., Thompson, T., Matthews, G. A., Takahashi, A., Tye, K. M., & Saxe, R. (2020). Acute social isolation evokes midbrain craving responses similar to hunger. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.03.25.006643.