The first results of the interdisciplinary cooperation of our Institute, the Institute of Medical Physics and Biophysics of the Faculty of Medicine of Comenius University (CU) and the Department of Psychology of the Faculty of Arts of CU, within the framework of their DISCONNECT initiative, which deals with social isolation and loneliness in the population (https://osamelost.sk/), were presented at the 15th Symposium of Young Physiologists (April 8-10, 2026) in Berlin by Doctor Jakub Szabó. The work was even awarded the prize for the best foreign project. Congratulations!
It seems that after a longer period of social isolation, the brain undergoes pathological changes from a normal microenvironment to a state of impaired neuroplasticity, chronic neuroinflammation and partial disruption of the integrity of the blood-brain barrier. Moreover, these changes appear to be differentially affected by gender, which requires further research.