eHarmony Labs Scientific Advisor, Dr. John Cacioppo, has been publishing some extremely important papers that have done much to identify the causes and consequences of loneliness. Now Dr. Cacioppo has worked with a group of researchers to show that people with chronically high levels of loneliness show alterations in their pattern of gene expression. This is also the first time that a social epidemiological risk factor has been linked to genome wide transcriptional activity.

Cacioppo has been integral in understanding loneliness as a distinct construct, it is not just being alone rather it is characterized by three conditions: isolation (absence or distance from a spouse or family member), feelings of being disconnected (not having close friends) and feelings of not belonging (not identifying with or not being accepted or valued by social groups). He also worked to validate a measure capable of assessing loneliness in large scale studies. He has also demonstrated the range of effects that loneliness can have; physical effects such as altering cardiac function and disrupting sleep and psychological consequences such as perceiving the world to be threatening and relating to others in ways that reduces positive feedback and emotional support. And in work published last year he showed that about half of the variance in loneliness is related to having a family history of loneliness.

Now, in a paper published in Genome Biology, Dr. Cacioppo has worked with a group of researchers to show that people with chronically high levels of loneliness show alterations in their pattern of gene expression. Specifically glucocorticoid response genes and pro-inflammatory transcription control pathways have been identified as the first functional genetic explanation for some of the physical problems previously identified among lonely people. This is also the first time that a social epidemiological risk factor has been linked to genome wide transcriptional activity.

The take home message from this study is two-fold. First it raises the possibility that preventive medications may stave off some of the physical deficits that are commonly associated with loneliness. While shear speculation, the impact of loneliness on inflammatory pathways suggest that anti-inflammatory medications may be found that can interrupt some of the processes by which loneliness causes physical deficits. Second, this effect was found to be highly related to the perception of loneliness, not strictly to the presence of social networks suggestive of loneliness.

Again, speculation leaves one to wonder if it is possible to alter the perception of loneliness. Can people experience less loneliness either through the expansion of social networks or by changing perceptions of loneliness? Given the increasing evidence of numerous physical problems associated with loneliness, exploration of all manner of interventions to combat loneliness are certainly needed.

Photograph by Kolby Kirk