The Impact of Isolation on the Brain

Richard J. Smeyne, professor of neuroscience at Thomas Jefferson University, conducted experiments with mice to examine how isolation affects the brain. He found that after one month of isolation the neurons in the sensory and motor parts of the mice’s brains shrank by 20 percent, and that shrinkage remained steady after three months in isolation. He discusses how these findings are significant for revealing how solitary confinement causes physical damage to the brain.

This video is part of a series on Solitary Confinement, presented at Neuroscience 2018 for the Social Issues Roundtable.