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. 2024 Mar 18:37:100758.
doi: 10.1016/j.bbih.2024.100758. eCollection 2024 May.

The beneficial effects of social support and prosocial behavior on immunity and health: A psychoneuroimmunology perspective

Estherina Trachtenberg  1   2
Affiliations

The beneficial effects of social support and prosocial behavior on immunity and health: A psychoneuroimmunology perspective

Estherina Trachtenberg. Brain Behav Immun Health. .

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic emphasized the pivotal role of the social environment, prompting a surge in research on its impact on well-being and health. This article aims to examine the link between the social environment, the immune system, and health outcomes, with a particular focus on positive aspects like social support and prosocial behaviors that are under-explored. Different aspects of the social environment are examined: the negative effects of loneliness and adverse social conditions, contrasted with the benefits of social support and prosocial behaviors. While the mechanisms behind negative effects are partially studied, those driving the positive effects remain elusive. Understanding the mechanisms of lack of social connection and their effects will allow us to explore the benefits of social connections and whether they can reverse the adverse outcomes. Potential psychoneuroimmunology mechanisms are proposed, highlighting the promotion of a 'safe' state by the vagus nerve, oxytocin circuits, and the additional contribution of the reward pathways. This article reviews the need to bridge knowledge gaps, urging further research to study the causal effects of positive social interactions on immune response and health outcomes to raise clinical awareness and interventions. Such interventions may include integrating lonely individuals with prosocial activities, thereby improving their physical and mental health. There is growing potential to harness the power of social connections for the betterment of individual health and society as a whole.

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Conflict of interest statement

I declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Bio Estherina Trachtenberg is a final year PhD candidate at Tel-Aviv University's Sagol School of Neuroscience, under the supervision of Prof. Shamgar Ben-Eliyahu and Dr. Inbal Ben-Ami Bartal. She obtained an MSc in medical science at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, in 2018, where she researched cognitive impairment in Hodgkin Lymphoma survivors, and prior to that worked as a registered nurse in hematology. In the clinic, Ms. Trachtenberg understood the importance of the impact of social environment on cancer patient recovery when noticing the difference in coping between patients with social support and those without social support or in isolation. Hence, in her PhD research, she investigates the effects of social context – positive and negative – on the immune system in rat models and in humans. Her rat studies include quantifying the effect of social isolation on cancer and immune function through neuro-immune pathways, and how helping behavior can mitigate these adverse effects in the context of isolation. In a human study initiated immediately after the first Covid-19 lockdown in Israel, Ms. Trachtenberg examined the effect of a prosocial environment on long-term health outcomes. A central aspect of her work focuses on the importance of volunteering, and she has been actively volunteering continuously for over a decade, with various organizations, including the founding of a non-profit organization. Ms. Trachtenberg takes an active part in several committees, such as the Communications Committee of the PNIRS. In the future, she plans to gain expertise in studying prosocial behavior in the context of immunity and to raise awareness of the importance of reducing loneliness.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The key PNI mechanisms that positively impact the immune system involve stress reduction pathways. These pathways are activated by enhancing ‘safe’ mode signals through increased activity in the parasympathetic-vagal system and oxytocin levels, and through regulation of the HPA axis and the SNS. In addition to increasing the ‘safe’ mode, oxytocin can directly influence immune responses. This pathway likely represents the link in how social support mitigates the well-documented adverse effects of various life stressors. Moreover, helping behavior introduces another proposed mechanism: increased dopaminergic activity, which may directly influence peripheral innate immune functions.
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