Social isolation and re-connection: Why navigating a post-COVID world will need homeostasis

Kareem Clark, Virginia Tech With COVID-19 vaccines working and restrictions lifting across the country, it’s finally time for those now vaccinated who’ve been hunkered down at home to ditch the sweatpants and reemerge from their Netflix caves. And while we can’t know exactly what our brains have gone through over the last year, neuroscientists like me have some insight into how social isolation and resocialisation affect the brain. Social homeostasis – the need to socialise Humans have an evolutionarily hardwired need to socialise – though it may not feel like it when deciding between a dinner invite and rewatching Schitt’s Creek. And like those motivations, a recent study found that reducing social interaction causes social cravings – producing brain activity patterns similar to food deprivation. Several animal studies show that even temporary adulthood isolation impairs both social memory – like recognising a familiar face – and working memory – like recalling a recipe while cooking.