Social isolation poses a severe mental and physiological burden on humans. Most animal models that investigate this effect are based on prolonged isolation, which does not mimic the milder conditions experienced by people in the real world. We show that in adult male rats, acute social isolation causes social memory loss. This memory loss is accompanied by significant changes in the expression of specific mRNAs and proteins in the medial amygdala, a brain structure that is crucial for social memory. These changes particularly involve the neurotrophic signaling and axon guidance pathways that are associated with neuronal network remodeling. Upon regrouping, memory returns, and most molecular changes are reversed within hours. However, the expression of some genes, especially those associated with neurodegenerative diseases remain modified for at least a day longer. These results suggest that acute social isolation and rapid resocialization, as experienced by millions during the COVID-19 pandemic, are sufficient to induce significant changes to neuronal networks, some of which may be pathological.

社会孤立对人类造成严重的精神和生理负担。大多数研究这种影响的动物模型都是基于长期隔离，这并没有模仿人们在现实世界中所经历的较温和的条件。我们表明，在成年雄性大鼠中，急性社会隔离会导致社会记忆丧失。这种记忆丧失伴随着内侧杏仁核中特定 mRNA 和蛋白质表达的显着变化，杏仁核是一种对社交记忆至关重要的大脑结构。这些变化特别涉及与神经元网络重塑相关的神经营养信号和轴突导向通路。重组后，记忆恢复，大多数分子变化在数小时内逆转。然而，一些基因的表达，尤其是那些与神经退行性疾病相关的疾病至少会多一天进行修改。这些结果表明，在 COVID-19 大流行期间，数以百万计的人所经历的急性社会隔离和快速再社会化足以引起神经元网络的显着变化，其中一些可能是病理性的。