Researchers at the University Psychiatric Hospital in Zurich have found out how the effect of forced social isolation, which has a negative effect on mentally ill patients, can be mitigated by stimulating serotonin receptors with psychotropic substances. The results of the work were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Social connections with others are essential for physical and mental health. At the same time, patients in psychiatric clinics often face social rejection, which leads to the aggravation of various mental disorders and a decrease in the effectiveness of their treatment. While negative experiences have been known to be mitigated by drugs that target serotonin receptors in neurons in the brain, scientists were not sure if the effects of social isolation could be mitigated this way.
To answer this question, the researchers conducted a study involving 21 healthy volunteers who were injected with a placebo or a stimulant drug based on the psychedelic psilocybin. Psilocybin has a structure similar to serotonin. Researchers studied the activity of neural networks in the brain in a state of calm wakefulness using functional MRI and magnetic resonance therapy.
Scientists simulated social isolation using the Cyberball game. Participants were told that the lack of a normal Internet connection prevented them from joining the rest, but they could watch the game from the side. In another version, they were allowed to participate in the game, but after five throws they stopped passing the ball.
The results showed that after the stimulant was administered to the volunteers, their feelings of social rejection decreased. At the same time, the activity of neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex and the middle frontal gyrus, the areas of the brain that were responsible for the formation of social pain, decreased. According to scientists, the activation of the serotonin pathway will help patients in psychiatric clinics to avoid the negative consequences of their alienation.
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that transmits signals between nerve cells and is responsible for such mental processes as mood, appetite, sleep, memory and learning. A nerve cell releases serotonin into the synaptic space between neurons, where a neurotransmitter interacts with a special group of receptor proteins in another cell. After reacting with serotonin, the receptors trigger a chain of biochemical reactions that activate the neuron.