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Loneliness Alters Your Brain's Social Network

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

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

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)

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 20 2020, @10:39PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 20 2020, @10:39PM (#1010492)

    Quit apologizing for him. He's less popular than EF at this point.

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  • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday June 22 2020, @01:42PM

    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Monday June 22 2020, @01:42PM (#1011082) Journal

    So? He brings a shitload more to the table than EF even when he *is* doing nothing but trolling. Popular means jack shit. He's still largely correct when he can be arsed to be serious for 5 minutes at a time.

    --
    I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...