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posted by cmn32480 on Saturday June 20 2020, @02:51PM   Printer-friendly
from the i'm-not-lonely,-i'm-an-introvert dept.

Loneliness alters your brain's social network: Feeling disconnected from others is reflected by how the brain represents relationships:

A brain region called the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) maintains a structured map of a person's social circles, based on closeness. People that struggle with loneliness often perceive a gap between themselves and others. This gap is reflected by the activity patterns of the mPFC.

The researchers had the participants think of different groups of people (self, "close others", acquaintances, and celebrities) while being scanned in an fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging). The perceived closeness of the subject to the imagined targets were revealed in the scans. Further, the lonelier-feeling participants had reduced perception of similarity to others in all categories.

Journal Reference:
Andrea L. Courtney, Meghan L. Meyer. Self-other representation in the social brain reflects social connection [$], Journal of Neuroscience (DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2826-19.2020)


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  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 20 2020, @05:10PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 20 2020, @05:10PM (#1010418)

    What loneliness really does, is make you happy by removing all the ignorant jerks from your life. Seriously, being a hermit is vastly underrated.

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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 20 2020, @05:16PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 20 2020, @05:16PM (#1010421)

    i tend to agree. the only time i'm lonely or stressed out is when i have been around people. also, they just keep getting dumber. it's not an ego boost. it's disturbing and depressing, but only when i'm exposed to their toxic stupidity.