Parts of brain may help reduce social isolation

Business Standard: Turns out, people who misuse opioids isolate themselves from their loved ones which poses as a problem.

Researchers from Arizona State University have identified a region in the brain that may be responsible for opioid-related social isolation and suggested that activating this part could at least partially revive the urge to socialize among opioid addicts.

The team focused on a brain area called the insula, which plays an important role in social, addictive, and empathy-related behaviors.

For the study, the researchers paired male rats and randomly assigned one of each pair to be trapped in a plastic tube in a cage. The other rat in the pair could easily release the trapped animal by pushing on a door. They then infused the rescuer rats with a virus that targeted cells in the insula and delivered one of three specialised proteins: one stimulated the cells of the insula; one suppressed those cells' activity, and one was inactive and served as a control. Then they provided all of them with self-administer heroin because, like humans, rats can become addicted to opioids. BS