Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 May 23;13(6):1229.
doi: 10.3390/life13061229.

Social Isolation: A Narrative Review on the Dangerous Liaison between the Autonomic Nervous System and Inflammation

Costanza Scatà  1 , Angelica Carandina  1   2 , Alice Della Torre  1   2 , Beatrice Arosio  2 , Chiara Bellocchi  1   2 , Gabriel Dias Rodrigues  2 , Ludovico Furlan  1   2 , Eleonora Tobaldini  1   2 , Nicola Montano  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Social Isolation: A Narrative Review on the Dangerous Liaison between the Autonomic Nervous System and Inflammation

Costanza Scatà et al. Life (Basel). .

Abstract

Social isolation and feelings of loneliness are related to higher mortality and morbidity. Evidence from studies conducted during space missions, in space analogs, and during the COVID-19 pandemic underline the possible role of the autonomic nervous system in mediating this relation. Indeed, the activation of the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system enhances the cardiovascular response and activates the transcription of pro-inflammatory genes, which leads to a stimulation of inflammatory activation. This response is adaptive in the short term, in that it allows one to cope with a situation perceived as a threat, but in the long term it has detrimental effects on mental and physical health, leading to mood deflection and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, as well as imbalances in immune system activation. The aim of this narrative review is to present the contributions from space studies and insights from the lockdown period on the relationship between social isolation and autonomic nervous system activation, focusing on cardiovascular impairment and immune imbalance. Knowing the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying this relationship is important as it enables us to structure effective countermeasures for the new challenges that lie ahead: the lengthening of space missions and Mars exploration, the specter of future pandemics, and the aging of the population.

Keywords: cardiovascular autonomic nervous system; immune system; social isolation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pathophysiological link between stress response and alterations induced by social isolation and the different settings in which this has been studied.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Eisenberger N.I. Social Pain and the Brain: Controversies, Questions, and Where to Go from Here. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2015;66:601–629. doi: 10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115146. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Nelson E.E., Panksepp J. Brain Substrates of Infant–Mother Attachment: Contributions of Opioids, Oxytocin, and Norepinephrine. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 1998;22:437–452. doi: 10.1016/S0149-7634(97)00052-3. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bzdok D., Dunbar R.I.M. The Neurobiology of Social Distance. Trends Cogn. Sci. 2020;24:717–733. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2020.05.016. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cacioppo J.T., Cacioppo S., Capitanio J.P., Cole S.W. The Neuroendocrinology of Social Isolation. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2015;66:733–767. doi: 10.1146/annurev-psych-010814-015240. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Eng P.M., Rimm E.B., Fitzmaurice G., Kawachi I. Social Ties and Change in Social Ties in Relation to Subsequent Total and Cause-Specific Mortality and Coronary Heart Disease Incidence in Men. Am. J. Epidemiol. 2002;155:700–709. doi: 10.1093/aje/155.8.700. - DOI - PubMed