We are social beings and, as such, we know the importance of socialization to survive, our human condition is defined by culture and does not develop in isolation, it can even be said that interaction with other people is the best way to live fully. develop the brain.
Therefore, it is very important to establish friendships and camaraderie, not only to maintain emotional health, but also to keep the brain as active as possible, in this way all sociable people generally promote the health of their brain, this feature protects your brain from cognitive decline and dementia.
- Recent studies in biological anthropology demonstrate the importance of socialization for the evolutionary development of the brain.
- Without social relations.
- We wouldn’t have updated until we were who we are.
- In addition.
- Unfortunately.
- There are some very illustrative cases of what happens when someone spends their first years of life in isolation.
- Among these cases.
- We find those known as “wild children”.
The benefits of socialization for brain development and the negative effects of its absence will be discussed in more detail below.
Humans are the most complex brain animals, an organ that allows us to develop a communication system through language, in addition, it also gives us the opportunity to make complicated decisions, create objects with our own hands and even dominate other species and the environment. .
According to Daniel White, an expert in brain evolution, what enabled this great brain development was socialization. For the specialist, life in society has led the evolution of our brains.
Different environmental and social situations have encouraged the brain to develop superior processes, resulting in brains with greater memorization capacity, greater accuracy in hand direction and in the use and development of language (all evolutionary factors that have made life easier for us over the past 300,000 years). ).
The importance of socialization for brain development can be seen by comparing the maturation of the human brain with the case of other primates. A chimpanzee’s brain matures during pregnancy and, at birth, his brain is practically formed. By the age of two, the chimpanzee’s brain has formed. already reached the volume of the adult brain.
In the case of humans, brain maturation develops between the gestation period and exceeds two years of life, so our brain reaches the volume of an adult at the age of 7, while the boy, boy or girl, must already be prepared for it. the first simple social interactions.
However, even if it does not grow, the human brain continues to be configured until the age of 25, a time when socialization plays a very important role, in fact, it is so important that it has a decisive influence on brain maturation.
Lack of socialization affects brain maturation in different ways, is so harmful that it affects and delays the development of the brain in general, especially in the early years of life, so the absence of quality social relationships affects not only mood and behavior, but also cognitive. health and motor skills.
Lack of socialization has more serious effects on the child stage. During the first 10 years of life, human beings acquire and perfect many of their superior psychological processes, such as language. Cases of “wild children” are examples of these harmful effects.
Genie’s case shows the experience of a girl imprisoned by her parents during her first 13 years of life, without any emotional stimulation or socialization, this prevented her from acquiring the management of complex language, she only made gestures and sounds in response. external stimuli. Although he was 13 when he started his treatment, he was never able to routinely handle complex language.
Another case is that of the wild boy of L’Aveyron, who occurred in 1800, a 12-year-old boy appeared in the small village of Aveyron, France, climbing trees and running naked, like Genie, did not speak and, besides, walked on all fours like chimpanzees, was abandoned or his parents died when he was very young, so he did not get involved in any kind of socialization.
These two cases are just special examples of what the absence of socialization can mean for the development of the brain, in addition, they speak of the development windows of our brain, in which there is a willingness to acquire certain complex skills, such as language.
We have already seen the importance of socialization for brain development, socialization provides both emotional health and stimuli to the brain, challenging and keeping it active, these socialization processes are vital, especially in the older age of life, to prevent mental impairment caused by low mental activity.
To ensure these benefits we must try, as far as possible, to be sociable people, this socialization with others should preferably be done orally, although it also has some advantages of doing so in writing.
People who spend a lot of time in isolation can take certain steps to avoid losing the stimuli generated by social contact:
In this way, the development and activation of the brain will always be assured; for the younger ones, the brain will mature through socialization; for the elderly, the brain will remain active and will not deteriorate more rapidly through socialization; after all, human beings. are social beings So why not encourage and provide socialization for the health of our brains?