Friendship: a treasure for the brain

“Who finds a friend finds a treasure”: this ancient proverb holds a deep truth, confirmed by recent neuroscientific discoveries. Friendships not only add value to our lives but also make us richer at a brain level. Friendships stimulate the **development of specific brain areas**, creating new neural connections. The development of the emotional brain and emotional intelligenceThe first definition of Emotional Intelligence as such was p... More is activated and enhanced by the **presence of others in our lives**. After family and primary caregivers, friends play a fundamental role in **activating these important brain circuits related to sociality**.

Friendship and empathy

Friendship fosters empathyEmpathy is a fundamental skill that allows us to connect wit... More, promoting **cognitive, emotional, and social development** and psychological skills that allow us to share others’ emotions. According to the perception-action model of empathy, observing or imagining another person in a particular emotional state automatically activates a representation of that state in the observer, expanding our understanding of emotional and affective states. Through play, sharing experiences, dialogue, conflict management, and reconciliation, we develop our empathetic capacity from childhood. Cultivating this healthy predisposition toward others throughout life allows us to become humans capable of forming positive relationships and offering and receiving mutual support.

The most intense and enduring relationships, like those we form with true friends, play a crucial role in developing important brain functions. This process is particularly significant during pre-adolescence and adolescenceWhat is meant by adolescence? Adolescence is understood as t... More, when peer relationships gain special importance in shaping brain development and social behavior.

 

 

Dopaminergic circuits: exploring and learning together

Friendships make us feel good. Through relationships, **dopaminergic circuits** in the brain are stimulated. These circuits are responsible for trying new behaviors, seeking novelty, and exploring new environments, interests, and passions.

Friendships **enhance our ability to enjoy pleasurable sensations and fuel our curiosity**. Through strong bonds, we feel part of groups and contexts where we belong, satisfying our innate need to know, experiment, grow, and learn together.

Cortical maturation: forming identity

Identity formation and the choice of values are closely linked to the development and maturation of cortical areas. Friendships facilitate and strengthen **connections between emotional areas and the prefrontal cortexThe prefrontal cortex plays a fundamental role in numerous p... More**. A friend becomes a mirror through which we can observe, accept, and understand ourselves, identifying shared values and aspirations, as well as what makes us unique.

Friendships can form between similar or very different individuals. In the first case, we share tastes, interests, and worldviews; in the second, we gain the opportunity to engage with different perspectives and life experiences, discovering new facets of ourselves. Both scenarios enrich us, helping us better understand ourselves, build identity, develop a sense of belonging and security, and experiment with new lifestyles.

Brain resilience: supporting each other in difficulties

The presence of friends in difficult situations protects us from anxietyAnxiety is an emotional response characterized by feelings o... More, depressionDepression is a disorder characterized by persistent sadness... More, and social isolation. Numerous recent studies have highlighted **friendship as a protective factor** in both childhood and adulthood.

During development, a strong network of friendships **reduces the risk of being bullied** and experiencing secondary or social victimization. This protective effect persists into adulthood, increasing perceived self-efficacyWhen facing the daily challenges we must confront, sometimes... More. Moreover, maintaining stable friendships from childhood into adulthood seems to protect against secondary psychopathologies resulting from abuse or maltreatment and, more generally, against adjustment disorders following traumatic or stressful events in childhood.

Strong friendships also appear to reduce the risk of risky or externalizing behaviors, promoting **better adaptation during highly stressful or destabilizing life events**, such as natural disasters or pandemics.

Friendship enriches our emotional life, playing a key role in brain development, social adaptation, and building personal resilienceWhat is meant by resilience? According to the American Psych... More. Cultivating and maintaining meaningful friendships is therefore essential for psychological and physical well-being and for balanced personal growth throughout life.

Friendship encourages prosocial behaviors: doing good together

Engaging in altruistic behaviors is easier and more enjoyable when done with others. Friendships foster prosocial behavior. Some studies show that highly empathetic people are more attuned to emotional factors, influencing the prosocial behavior of others, demonstrating that we are more likely to help others when in the company of friends than when alone. Activism for social causes, from volunteering to crowdfundingCrowdfunding, also known as collective financing, is a fundr... More campaigns, are examples.

In Third Millennium Pedagogy, the concept of **“expanded neural fabric”** is used to describe the value of relationships. We are interconnected with others as if they were an extension of ourselves, and within this expanded network, we can quickly access possibilities, solutions, and resources we do not possess individually. Recognizing this positive interconnection opens a door to happinessHappiness represents an emotional state characterized by pos... More, which at school can be developed, for example, through cooperative learning, applied at Assisi International School. This perspective allows us to appreciate the priceless value of mutual support and the true treasure of friendship.