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The way we feel alone, or how much we want to socialize, seems to be partly determined by our genetic code, reveals new research – potentially offering new ways to tackle health problems badociated with loneliness.
Drawing on the responses of 487,647 participants in the British Biobank program, the researchers identified 15 gene regions related to loneliness.
They also found evidence of a possible badociation between obesity and the feeling of loneliness. – The same genes could increase the likelihood that someone would be overweight and feel lonely, and addressing them together might be a better approach.
"We often think that loneliness depends solely on our environment and our life experiences, but this study demonstrates that genes can also play a role," said one of the members of the group. team, John Perry of the University of Cambridge in the UK, The Telegraph .and the environment, but that suggests that at the population level, if we could fight against obesity, we would also be able to bring down loneliness. "
About one in four people over the age of 65 in the UK su" Loneliness has been badociated with genetics before, c & # 39; This is the first time that researchers have been able to highlight specific gene regions that seem to have an impact on loneliness, "says the researcher," as we are isolated. "
And although this method of using self-report retrospectively ective is not enough to prove the cause and effect – there may be other hidden factors – the data collected certainly make a strong case.
Although the genetic coding identified in the study does not fully guarantee or totally exclude feelings of loneliness, it seems that this could tip the scales one way or the other. The researchers think that about 4-5% of our tendency to feel lonely could be inherited,
Participants were also asked about the social activities that they performed. The researchers found variations in 13 gene regions related to people preferring to go to pub and 6 gene regions related to preferring the gym. There were also 18 gene regions related to people going to religious groups.
And the team also found genetic overlaps with traits identified in previous studies: depression, obesity, and poor cardiovascular health in particular. It could be that these traits combine to increase the risk of loneliness in a particular person
In other words, two people in very similar situations might have different feelings about their loneliness or not – and this study suggests that this may be partly due to the genetic coding with which they were born.
The researchers point out that a host of genetic and non-genetic factors are likely to be involved, so we absolutely can not say that there is a "lonely gene". "or that your feelings are totally genetic."
But these genetic cues correspond to the way the world works: some of us are perfectly happy to live lonely lives, while it may look like torture to others. Our findings highlight the specific genetic basis of social isolation and social interaction, "the researchers write. "We find evidence of shared genetic effects across social traits, in addition to more specific pathways that stimulate engagement in particular activities."
The research was published in Nature Communications .
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