Benedyk, Anastasia; Reichert, Markus; Giurgiu, Marco; Timm, Irina; Reinhard, Iris; Nigg, Carina; Berhe, Oksana; Moldavski, Alexander; von der Goltz, Christoph; Braun, Urs; Ebner-Priemer, Ulrich; Meyer-Lindenberg, Andreas; Tost, Heike (2024). Real-life behavioral and neural circuit markers of physical activity as a compensatory mechanism for social isolation. Nature Mental Health, 2(3), pp. 337-342. Springer Nature 10.1038/s44220-024-00204-6
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Social isolation and loneliness pose major societal challenges accelerated by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, especially for mental health. In this cohort study using accelerometry, electronic diaries and neuroimaging in a community-based sample of 317 young adults, we show that people felt affectively worse when lacking social contact, but less so when engaging in physical activity. This putative compensatory mechanism was present even at small physical activity doses and was pronounced in individuals with higher brain functional connectivity within the default mode network signaling risk for depression. Social-affective benefits of movement were higher in people showing exacerbated loneliness and were replicated throughout the pandemic. These findings extend the state of knowledge on the dynamic interplay of social contact and physical activity in daily life identifying an accessible protective strategy to mitigate the negative effects of social isolation, particularly among at-risk individuals, which comes with the potential to improve public health in the post-pandemic world.
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
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Division/Institute: |
04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM) |
UniBE Contributor: |
Nigg, Carina |
Subjects: |
600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health 300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 360 Social problems & social services 300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology 500 Science |
ISSN: |
2731-6076 |
Publisher: |
Springer Nature |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Carina Nigg |
Date Deposited: |
11 Apr 2024 10:06 |
Last Modified: |
11 Apr 2024 10:15 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.1038/s44220-024-00204-6 |
BORIS DOI: |
10.48350/195672 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/195672 |
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