Being cut off from other humans changes your brain. Here's the science on how.

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Scientific American

Scientific American

3 жыл бұрын

Over the past few months, the phrase “social distancing” has entered our lexicon. Many of us have found ourselves separated from family and friends-or at least from our normal social lives. As humans grapple with pandemic-induced isolation, science is starting to offer insight into what may be happening in our brains when our social contact with others is dramatically reduced.
That insight happens to come from a place with more penguins than people.
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Пікірлер: 124
@buny0n
@buny0n Жыл бұрын
You are what you do and when you do nothing and interact with no one you lose yourself. this is my 6th year socially isolated with no end in sight. i can't think; i have no motivation; i'm afraid of socializing because my personality has all but faded away; i rarely leave the house. my hobbies used to keep me occupied but now i can't motivate myself to engage with any of them. i've developed some kind of weird unconscious groan which I can only barely prevent myself from doing whenever occasionally in public. i spend my days walking in circles in my kitchen, groaning to myself - lost in shitty past memories, dwelling on botched opportunities, and trying to think of something i still have the mental energy to do with myself... but keep coming up blank. i can feel that isolation has changed my brain somehow. anyway, i'm pretty sure this is the end of the road. dipset.
@Teamshmo
@Teamshmo Жыл бұрын
Why no end in sight? Also, one huge tip that helps isolation is tracking things. You can track rain fall amounts, your calories per day, the stars, whatever you want. Giving your brain something to focus on and being disciplined is easy and improves your brain like nothing else. Create a chart and track things. Looking over it and seeing differences over time helps you focus and allows you to see you are doing stuff. Easiest is calories as you can use food tracker apps and it displays all the data with graphs etc over time.
@HerrEngelsman
@HerrEngelsman 10 ай бұрын
Been there. Very similar to how you describe. Have you tried meditating? I needed to get out of my head - Constant stream of inner monologue. Wheels spinning. We can't think our way out of everything. You should probably try to get out more. If you don't want to be around lots of people, go green spaces, scenic cycle paths with trees, fields. Get a dog? Or other pets. Do you work? Get any fast food job. Have to start somewhere. I quit gaming years back after doing it too much because I felt bad about it. I'd probably go back to it soon now that I've sorted myself out. Join an online guild and use the speaking server, even if you just listen at first. Ventrillo/teams peak, whatever people use these days. Similar to what I mentioned with meditation, I would look into mindfulness. I watch a guy called Owen Cook. He talks about 'stifledness' being stifled. It's when you go withdrawn and reticent, defensive, uptight and don't act out. Like you (might be all or some of these things) stop singing, might stop laughing, making phrases/movie quotes/daft noises, hold posture stiff/wooden, don't project voice or might talk monotone. You need to get out of your head and into your body mate. Play, whatever it is, gaming, pool, kickboxing, dance. Don't live in hell mate. I had all of that. I'm getting better, have came a long way. Might want to look into Trauma. Guessing people have gave you sht, painful social interactions. Anger goes inwards. I was flat for years mate. Thought I was controlling emotions, being all stoic. It's inwards anger as defence mechanism. I was using colloquial 'cope'. You can make a better life mate. I had insomnia 10 years, didn't go out. Identified with social anxiety. Just stopped in the house most the time so many years, very bitter. I chased happiness, tried to force things too for a long time when I came out of it, material things. Aim to be CALM. Relaxed, have less demented, demonic thoughts haunting you. The glimpses of happiness start to happen later. Man I sincerely wish you the very best. God bless.
@blaketheshepherd
@blaketheshepherd 9 ай бұрын
I know the *exact* groan you're talking about. I had it too after being isolated for a long time. Life became *so* much better when I started getting around people again more consistently (even though I really didn't want to at the time). Isolation DOES change your mind. Physically. It reduces certain parts of the brain. They did a study on people by isolating them in Antartica to prove it. Look into Tachykinin. Andrew Huberman has talked about it before. It's like your brain punishes you for being socially isolated by making you feel awful. I'd be happy to send you links if you want them.
@ozzylepunknown551
@ozzylepunknown551 8 ай бұрын
If you get bored by yourself it just means you're in bad company
@Neha-bl2ec
@Neha-bl2ec 4 ай бұрын
​@@HerrEngelsman it was really heartwarming to read, i am in similar situation 21yr old, ever since finished college cut off all ties with friends, i feel lonely most of the time but people make me scared. I have withdrawn myself from society,barely goes out in a week or sometimes months and spends most of the time in my room, gets very distracted easily, unmotivated often times and lacks discipline being painfully aware of all these makes it hell for me to go through my day,tbh im really ashamed of the way i have turned out
@shaybaye
@shaybaye 8 ай бұрын
Makes sense. Going back into like monkey times, if you are alone it makes sense your brain would have to adapt to surviving alone. Being hypervigilant because there's no one else there to help. No one to watch out for threats, or look for the food, or search/keep for the shelter. No team.
@drkeikikane
@drkeikikane 3 жыл бұрын
The music was way too loud for the narration. It was hard to follow.
@nooriman5944
@nooriman5944 3 жыл бұрын
Same
@bbbenj
@bbbenj 3 жыл бұрын
Same!
@nullakjg767
@nullakjg767 3 жыл бұрын
I think everyone is being too hard on Sylvester. He had a long day chasing tweety bird.
@nooriman5944
@nooriman5944 3 жыл бұрын
null akjg I don’t understand what you’re teying to say :(
@cormchm2853
@cormchm2853 26 күн бұрын
Aye, but it is really cool though isn't it /s
@sunnyquinn3888
@sunnyquinn3888 Ай бұрын
I was isolated from ages 14-37, it's complicated but the short version is it was kind of a situation like the Turpins where they kept their kids locked up at home for years, even the adult children. Except I didn't have siblings and my dad died when I was a kid so I only saw my mom. I've been back out in society for a couple years now but it's hard because emotionally and socially, in a lot of ways I'm still a teenager. I just had my 40th birthday and it's such a mindfuck because I don't feel 40 at all. I'm lacking so many basic life experiences that people normally have as teens and young adults. Sometimes it's hard to not be bitter, I lost what are supposed to be the best years of a person's life and I'll never get that time back. I have difficulty making friends, nevermind dating, because I don't really relate to people my own age, but I fear that socializing with people who are the age I feel comes across as weird and creepy.
@MsGenXodus
@MsGenXodus 26 күн бұрын
I spent just under a year isolated, primarily due to medical reasons, and feel like I missed something very important in my emotional development. I was 11-12 years old. I can't imagine how foreign everything must feel for you. I'm glad you are persevering.
@debraaman6026
@debraaman6026 3 жыл бұрын
Interesting video but narrator and sound quality made it difficult to hear.
@pandahot586
@pandahot586 3 жыл бұрын
it's like the narrator is wearing a bracelet and his tongue seems have some problems like oversize.
@Kenjiro5775
@Kenjiro5775 3 жыл бұрын
Everything we do changes our brains. Neural networks are constantly being reinforced or curtailed depending on our activities.
@detectivewiggles
@detectivewiggles Жыл бұрын
On top of that, your experience of consciousness literally isn’t even specific to your brain. Emotions are inflammatory reactions happening all over the body. Vagus nerve often more important than brain
@Kenjiro5775
@Kenjiro5775 Жыл бұрын
@@detectivewiggles I disagree, there is nothing more important than the brain. Everything you know, everything you are is inside that 2 kg mass.
@detectivewiggles
@detectivewiggles Жыл бұрын
@@Kenjiro5775 You are dead wrong lmfao. Research Lawrence Afrin mast cell disease dysautonomia If medicine understood this stuff then mental illness literally would be gone. It still exists because doctors are arrogant clowns fed ridiculous lies by evil men.
@detectivewiggles
@detectivewiggles Жыл бұрын
@@Kenjiro5775 Show me a functioning brain existing apart from the rest of the body. I'll wait. Your entire personality is your second secret immune system medicine literally hides because it makes them look dumb
@detectivewiggles
@detectivewiggles Жыл бұрын
@@Kenjiro5775 You do understand the bulk of your neurotransmitters are manufactured in your digestive organs, right, and that millions of nerve impulses never even REACH the brain because the vagus nerve is already its own brain, right? Leading trauma experts have been talking about the vagus nerve for decades. It is only able bodied, privileged people like you who can afford to believe pathetic pop science. Medicine only ever almost killed me and I saved myself. This is just a dumb hobby to make you feel smart.
@zakarofur4305
@zakarofur4305 3 жыл бұрын
The narrator lisps too much...
@JuliusUnique
@JuliusUnique 3 жыл бұрын
ty for this video, it was really interesting!
@rebajeanforever3700
@rebajeanforever3700 3 жыл бұрын
But they have a end time with others they don't know when their isolation will end. So I'm not shock that they had a good out. Homelessness and pandemic is DIFFERENT!
@davidonfim2381
@davidonfim2381 3 жыл бұрын
Yeah, the audio quality is not good. The narrator needs to talk more forcefully. Talk as if you're addressing a whole room, not as if you're whispering to your friend during a lecture.
@curiodyssey3867
@curiodyssey3867 Жыл бұрын
Lol terrible, terrible pick for somebody to narrate. The lisp, the smacking of his tongue against his cheeks...ugh gives me shudders. Terrible.
@indigenouscreatures7375
@indigenouscreatures7375 Жыл бұрын
I enjoyed the voice whether you did or not. I don't need forceful talk. It felt more personal as an isolationist. Very asmr
@zachstorm97
@zachstorm97 Жыл бұрын
I watched this by myself and I turned the volume up and enjoyed this video. if you want someone to drink energy drinks and yell at you keep looking it’s out there
@TheFroperson
@TheFroperson Жыл бұрын
This should also include prison solitary confinement, 'authoritarian enforced isolation with no thought for the person, just punishment by isolation ~ mental torture.
@maryanncrody4867
@maryanncrody4867 9 ай бұрын
If I had access to internet and electronics I could do solitary for years see mbti
@maryanncrody4867
@maryanncrody4867 9 ай бұрын
Since I was a child I always though Antarctica as an idea job I was a bullied child at school and my mother was a narccistist and my dad an alcoholic I learned to be alone to have peace and I was married twice had kids and learned so called normal people can hurt you even more I find isolation peaceful survivable and leads to contentedness
@maryanncrody4867
@maryanncrody4867 2 жыл бұрын
If isolation is so bad why do I love it?
@squirrelcovers6340
@squirrelcovers6340 Жыл бұрын
It is only bad for extroverts😉
@blaketheshepherd
@blaketheshepherd 9 ай бұрын
Are you alone all-day every-day?
@maryanncrody4867
@maryanncrody4867 9 ай бұрын
Yes
@maryanncrody4867
@maryanncrody4867 9 ай бұрын
Except sundays if I can get to chirch
@blaketheshepherd
@blaketheshepherd 9 ай бұрын
@@maryanncrody4867 interesting. I find it madness inducing lol
@squirrelcovers6340
@squirrelcovers6340 Жыл бұрын
Solitude is Nirvana
@maryanncrody4867
@maryanncrody4867 9 ай бұрын
The chaos of others minds is pathological
@nuclear-meltdown
@nuclear-meltdown 3 жыл бұрын
I think it's time to come up with experimental protocols that doesn't involve hurting animals.
@patrickblair2818
@patrickblair2818 2 жыл бұрын
Amazing ... It seems that we should exercise our brains by being social...
@notnotknowing2946
@notnotknowing2946 2 жыл бұрын
Quality time ?
@bbbenj
@bbbenj 3 жыл бұрын
Music is way too loud to understand clearly what is said... 😢
@IsabellaHale
@IsabellaHale 2 ай бұрын
I can not imagine.. my mother was German,, and my grand father was scientist and I learned a lot from her (long dead) which she told me that people are just talking about now. People are made to be with other people. It takes a lot of guts to do that. The closest I ever was to being alone but I was not afraid was in a big ski resort..where there no other skiers around but I knew I would get to the bottom of the slope.. which I did. eerie feeling. Social isolation is used in psych wards.. which is I think cruel but it is done there.
@Kingtrollface259
@Kingtrollface259 8 ай бұрын
Been this way most of my life ,tbh I like my own company ,I'm good at staying out my own way
@joshuabuchtel2346
@joshuabuchtel2346 3 жыл бұрын
Voice of the narrator is terrible.
@nullakjg767
@nullakjg767 3 жыл бұрын
Seriously, can they not find a single person who doesnt have a lisp? Presentation matters even in science. Ill redub this video in a clear general american accent for 200 dollars. This is a serious offer. I assure you its worth every penny as I wont slur my words like drunk dude with a swollen tongue.
@nascentcomplacence3302
@nascentcomplacence3302 3 жыл бұрын
Idk, I don’t mind it. 🤷🏻‍♂️
@CarloTeofilo
@CarloTeofilo 3 жыл бұрын
I’ll do it in a weird Italian accent for 1$
@josephavila3539
@josephavila3539 3 жыл бұрын
This data seems not accurate, personally, I become way more stressed when I am around others opposed to being isolated, hence, people’s brains react differently towards isolation. In the study, are the people that are getting tested more comfortable in isolation or less?
@elsajohnson6663
@elsajohnson6663 2 жыл бұрын
I wonder if people who are introverted adapt better vs. extroverts who need socialization.
@melindadawn5
@melindadawn5 Жыл бұрын
My shrink used to tell me that in prison isolation is used on people that can't handle it, not on people who are good at it, because I prefer to be alone... I wrote him a letter after I was arrested and told him that after four days of being tortured and isolated, I went off on the guards for dehumanizing people which was against the law, after I watched the jail shrink tell some kid "good I'm glad you decided to cooperate with us after two weeks, we'll move you into a cell block and you can comb your hair, brush your teeth and take a shower and start felling like a real person again"... I saw red and blew up and was moved onto a cell block faster than the kid was... Jail is a bit different than isolating oneself outside of incarceration since the buildings produce a type of echo that's hard to explain... And most jails block out any and all windows so you can't see out and when you go outside you see no sky or trees or grass, the combination really throws off your equilibrium... I was happy to be around people in jail which shocked me, even though, the other individuals were not people I preferred to hang around. Outside of incarceration, I isolate myself often. I haven't left my house, willingly, in over 6 years, quarantining long before it was cool... I see my spouse whom, most of the time I'd prefer them to be and stay gone, and my parents stop by to drop things off once a week... My spouse gets upset with me often and tells me I have no idea how to interact with people and I tell them I do, I'm good at it, I just prefer not to and My spouse u Is the only one I seem to not be able to speak to properly so it sounds like they're the problem but then they tell me go name who I converse with since I don't leave and they tell me I have no friends... To which I reply that I don't desire friends..... When I isolate for long periods of time with no other human interaction, when I finally see another person or will talk their ear off... It's very weird...
@maryanncrody4867
@maryanncrody4867 9 ай бұрын
My shrink tells me how resilient I am but gets after me for not having friends😅
@TheElusiveReality
@TheElusiveReality 3 жыл бұрын
Why is he whispering?? Please re-record this with a new narrator, one who speaks clearly and at a proper volume
@syrus3657
@syrus3657 3 жыл бұрын
this is bullshit. im at peace when im alone.
@daveclarkeprofessionalvoic851
@daveclarkeprofessionalvoic851 3 жыл бұрын
I am a voice actor and the narration on this made me cringe. Who said "sounds great! Here's your money." The vo ruined the piece.
@L_24678
@L_24678 7 ай бұрын
Child neglect in a nutshell and emphasis on INTERVENTION AND COMPASSION. Post traumatic growth is a real thing and it’s not just toxic positivity (ie denial). It’s ok to be confused about the difference but we need to get our shit together as a collective organism (Earth). Baby steps count.
@vgerkinte3202
@vgerkinte3202 Жыл бұрын
I can understand the stabbing
@stevenbauer2290
@stevenbauer2290 3 жыл бұрын
Interesting video but the content didn't coincide with social distancing or what is going on during the 2020 pandemic. Unfortunately this will probably become one of many springboards of how companies in long term care foresee their community models needing to be designed in the future.
@WJSpies
@WJSpies 3 жыл бұрын
Sound is bad and muffled, it's hard to break through the thicker German accents and others.. cleaner brighter acoustic spectrum in audio would help.. no thanks Scientific American channel!
@zuutlmna
@zuutlmna 3 жыл бұрын
This is one of the reasons society needs to re-think worker retirement. We need to evolve some of our perceptions.. Isolation often occurs after worker retirement, doing more harm than good. We've got some pretty shallow views on some things, that, better understood, would probably add more quality to our lives. Thoreau intentionally cut himself off from society for its positive effects.. Distractions and thought-jamming are probably way worse now than in Thoreau's time. There is, as Thoreau believed, a great healing quality that can be achieved in experiencing Nature and solitude..
@zuutlmna
@zuutlmna 3 жыл бұрын
It's up to the individual to keep some mental enrichment going during isolation, which Thoreau probably practiced to his benefit..
@zuutlmna
@zuutlmna 3 жыл бұрын
Then there was Calvin Rutstrum... About his isolation experiences, he would likely have said: "Isolated!? Hardly! I'm surrounded by the busy minds I find in all the books that line the wall of my cabin."
@zuutlmna
@zuutlmna 3 жыл бұрын
Interestingly, one of Rutstrum's most popular titles: "Paradise Below Zero"..
@detectivewiggles
@detectivewiggles Жыл бұрын
Lmfao bootlicker. The answer to isolation isn’t "make people work til they die." We could like....just interact with them as HUMANS not just economic robots. No wonder the world is so insane when people like you think the only answer to isolation is FORCED LABOR OF THE ELDERLY. Licking boots is bad for your health bud
@Armored11
@Armored11 14 күн бұрын
Being alone feels so good. Only interaction i get is with people at work, unfortunately.. Id prefer working solo if i could. I dread holidays or events that require visiting relatives. During covid time i was able to make excuses saying i have covid. A cousin got married little while ago and i was supposed to go congratulate him. Iv been procrastinating. Im looking at isolated states like Alaska or Montana to move to so i can be more isolated. Maybe all this is not healthy but i just dont want to hang out with anyone.
@digglessmith9575
@digglessmith9575 4 ай бұрын
Can't hear him
@DrJohnWatson8
@DrJohnWatson8 3 жыл бұрын
Narrator is terrible, I can barely understand what he or she is saying. I had to out the captions on. Not only are they inarticulate, but they lisp, are too nasal, and have vocal fry. Honestly it is as if they purposefully hired the least qualified voice actor who auditioned.
@DrJohnWatson8
@DrJohnWatson8 3 жыл бұрын
*put
@GalacticAdventures69
@GalacticAdventures69 3 жыл бұрын
Can you speak a little louder?
@bullshark9177
@bullshark9177 3 жыл бұрын
The narrator ruins the video. Sorry.
@jjaa
@jjaa 3 жыл бұрын
Would be useful if they wouldn't mumble whisper mumble through entire video
@xmeerzx
@xmeerzx 3 жыл бұрын
YES MY GOODNESS!! they're freakin scientific American, they couldn't find a better narrator for the love of god!
@dragonore2009
@dragonore2009 6 ай бұрын
I don't know, I know one thing, I would absolutely love it, if I were alone, God, I would love that. I keep thinking about how wonderful it would be if no human being was around me for at least 25 miles. I've felt this way for a decade now, so are humans "social creatures", I don't know, I just know I want to be absolutely alone.
@SteveKirkwood82
@SteveKirkwood82 3 жыл бұрын
This was so interesting, but I only made 1:57mins in and I wanted to rip my ear drums out. WORST NARRATION EVER!
@winstonoboogie2424
@winstonoboogie2424 Жыл бұрын
The EQ on this video is terrible.
@F-Man
@F-Man 3 жыл бұрын
Just remember - governments all over the world did this to their people under duress.
@phillipchavez1321
@phillipchavez1321 3 жыл бұрын
Woooo, I'm one of the first commenter on this vid.! Anyhow....that video title doesn't sound good.
@AbrahamNixons
@AbrahamNixons 6 ай бұрын
This man speaks way too quietly.
@bubbajones44
@bubbajones44 2 жыл бұрын
What is this narration. A lisp and terrible mic makes this video almost unwatchable
@phillipchavez1321
@phillipchavez1321 3 жыл бұрын
Well shit....
@kokomanation
@kokomanation 2 жыл бұрын
You have to change the narrator very bad voice
@Orandu
@Orandu 3 жыл бұрын
Unsucribing.
@IsabellaHale
@IsabellaHale 2 ай бұрын
I have known about the amygdala for years because I worked in medicine and when I retired from my real field of molecular biology I volunteered to help VET psychiatric patients.. w/ severe PTSD .. that is how I learned about the amygdala. RESILIENCE. yep. :) very interesting
@IAMTHESWORDtheLAMBHASDIED
@IAMTHESWORDtheLAMBHASDIED 21 күн бұрын
I'm a fucking anomaly......
@dimitrijmaslov1209
@dimitrijmaslov1209 3 жыл бұрын
Hmpf.
@RobsMemoryLane
@RobsMemoryLane 3 жыл бұрын
Scientific American has gone downhill so bad. This is their worst video yet. Terrible narration. I need the closed captioning on.
@PopsiclesInMyCellar
@PopsiclesInMyCellar Жыл бұрын
Please don't speak with food in your mouth.
@wheres_bears1378
@wheres_bears1378 Жыл бұрын
Just grabbed my remote control to see if I could turn the gay down in this video
@squirrelcovers6340
@squirrelcovers6340 Жыл бұрын
Got a chub, didn't you?😂
@wheres_bears1378
@wheres_bears1378 Жыл бұрын
@@squirrelcovers6340 😂 and I had a sudden urge to roll myself in glitter
@justinwright4796
@justinwright4796 Жыл бұрын
I can't listen because the narrator is talking in an unnatural way.
@xmeerzx
@xmeerzx 3 жыл бұрын
What is horrible, horrible narration?!
@jakedubs
@jakedubs Жыл бұрын
why do we have a gaywad narrating this
@Chryztallic
@Chryztallic 24 күн бұрын
One of the worst narrations I have ever witnessed
@deirdreberger1363
@deirdreberger1363 3 жыл бұрын
Unsubscribing from a “science” channel that has gotten into politics.
@rocketsnailmail12
@rocketsnailmail12 3 жыл бұрын
The current political climate politicized science; science has not changed but those who disagree with it unfortunately have.
@stevenbauer2290
@stevenbauer2290 3 жыл бұрын
There wasn't one thing about politics in this video.
@stevenbauer2290
@stevenbauer2290 3 жыл бұрын
There wasn't one thing about politics in this video.
@Lostsage01
@Lostsage01 3 жыл бұрын
Antarctica and space station. Absolutely zero politics here, stop projecting what you want to see into unrelated topics
@VillemarMxO
@VillemarMxO 3 жыл бұрын
I think you've been socially isolated too long. Stay away from sharp objects!
@Davidbeattiification
@Davidbeattiification Ай бұрын
The narration is almost unbearable. Seriously dude, get another job
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