Adolescence

The Social Trap

Apr 21, 2025

Hey Rewire Collective!

Welcome to this week's newsletter! This week, we’re breaking down the science behind Adolescence and Social Isolation.

You’ve probably heard about the series Adolescence on Netflix. Despite a lack of sponsorship from them, I think it's time for us to break down the neuroscience of that scary time in our lives, especially in the day and age of social media.

What is an adolescent?

Generally, adolescence describes a group of children and young adults aged 10-24 years (1). This is a period characterised by exceptional neuroplasticity (2, 3), but also by heightened emotions and social sensitivity (3). This ability for neuroplasticity means that it is a critical time for learning; this is when second languages can be learned, music tastes are developed, and our social behaviours are formed (2,3). However, all of this plasticity and learning can be overwhelming; the peak age of onset for mental health conditions is 14.5 years old (4).

These heightened emotional states are partly driven by the new development of self-conscious emotions during adolescence: embarrassment, pride, shame, etc (3). We begin to understand we have a place in society and our actions can have consequences for ourselves. This new emotional realisation is driven by changes in the connectivity between the medial prefrontal cortex (actions, decisions, etc) and the striatum (emotions) (3).

Changes to the brain during adolescence. Created in https://BioRender.com

Adolescents are also more interested in social connections than their adult counterparts (5), and they value social rewards more than monetary ones (6). This drive for social connections, combined with emotional volatility and new feelings of embarrassment, pride, and shame, is sort of like a make it or break it situation. It can either be successful – friendships made, feelings of contentedness, finding footing in a larger world – or detrimental – lack of social connections, feeling of embarrassment and confusion and rejection. The feelings of peer rejection can lead to aggression in adolescents in a way that is not seen in children (7).

Peer rejection doesn’t end in adolescence either, I’m afraid to say. That’s why I’ve got a video on how to handle ghosting on my YouTube.

There are several lines of evidence we could follow: gender, emotional regulation, familial impact, social cognitive theory, etc. I’m going to talk about the impacts of social isolation on adolescents brains, as social media use, which is highest among adolescents, contributes to social isolation, as did the COVID-19 pandemic.

Social Isolation

Nearly 50% of 10-12-year-olds and 60% of 16-24-year-olds reported being lonely (8). They also reported it being embarrassing to be lonely, describing it as a ‘failing’ (8). To worsen the situation, loneliness is associated with mental health issues. So, we have a group of people that are particularly susceptible to mental health issues, experiencing new and heightened self-conscious emotions, extremely concerned about social connections, and now also feeling embarrassed about feeling lonely.

Does social media help? It’s a relevant question, since adolescents are one of the highest users of social media (9). However, even though adolescents respond to access to virtual social environments with less reported loneliness, their brain responses are still altered from the in-person isolation (10).

What does social isolation do to an adolescent's brain?

Rewires them to crave rewards (10). This changes how they are motivated and how they make decisions.
Enhances threat responding and learning (11).
1. Threat responding is how we react to potentially threatening (physically, mentally, or social threatening) events. Threat learning is how we learn about what to consider a threat and how we respond to it. Normally, we learn about a threat, we learn how to react, and eventually, when the threat is no longer present, this response disappears (threat extinction).
2. Adolescents already have delayed threat extinction, meaning they remain heightened to potential threats for longer, leading to a chronic state of anxiety. This is driven by the changes occurring in the circuity of the frontal lobe and the amygdala during adolescents (12).
3. However, this study showed that social isolation during adolescents delayed threat extinction even further (11). This has also been shown in adolescents following the COVID-19 pandemic (13) This type of delayed extinction in threat learning is a central feature to anxiety-based disorders like phobias, OCD, and PTSD.
4. This study also showed that after social isolation, threats were rated even more unpleasant and anxiety-inducing than before social isolation (11).

When adolescents were allowed ‘virtual’ social connections (via phones, social media) they reported feeling less lonely, however, their brains still showed the above changes, with delayed threat extinction, higher anxiety, and more anxiety-reactivity to threats.

From an evolutionary perspective, it makes sense that in-person social connections make us feel safer (safety in numbers and all that shebang) and even if we think we feel connected to people online, our brains don’t respond the same way.

So what’s the takeaway?

Who your kids are friends with matters (14), and having meaningful relationships with friends and family matters (11,12,13).
Your kids don’t mean to be emotionally crazy, but their brain can’t help it (3,7).
This is a great time for neuroplasticity, so this is your chance to help your child learn to emotionally regulate.
Social media usage is not the same as in-person social contact, from the brain's perspective. So, making sure they have some social contact outside of their phone is critical – think about something that gets them moving, as exercise is also a great way to regulate emotions and feel better.

Until Next Week,

Nicole x

P.S. Let me know any topics you want me to cover in future newsletters!

Rewire With Nicole Vignola

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