Effects of bullying on the brain

Bullying is a societal issue that has increased tenfold with the advent of various communication technologies and social networks. Even though it is recognized as a criminal offense punishable by law, and awareness campaigns are regularly organized, it is still too widespread. Scientists have recently highlighted its effects on the brain.

According to the World Health Organization, 𝟏𝟏% 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 are bullied at school every year, whether in the form of 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐞. In France, a 2023 survey reported that 5% of elementary school students and 2% of middle and high school students were afraid to go to school. A Finnish study recently published in the 𝐽𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑁𝑒𝑢𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 examined 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥-𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 during an act of bullying.

The experiment was conducted as follows: 51 adolescents and 47 adults watched a 9-minute video 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, in which they experienced the victim's point of view, while 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞. These situations triggered activation in several sensory and motor regions, as well as regions linked to the management of 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬: the brain stem, the amygdala, the thalamus, and the somatosensory and motor cortices.

These effects were found in both adolescents and adults, producing a 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬. Repeated exposure to this type of situation can have 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐩𝐬𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬, potentially leading to an 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 of the stress and emotion regulation systems.