Does Being Socially Isolated Affect Your Brain?
Mental health professionals have long debated about the nature of loneliness.
An article published February 16, 2009 in Medical News Today examines this issue.
The article reports on results of a study at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The researchers studied "23 female undergraduates who were tested to determine their level of loneliness.
While in an fMRI scanner, the subjects were shown unpleasant pictures and human conflict as well as pleasant things such as money and happy people.
" The results of the study were interesting.
The researchers discovered that "..
..
that the ventral striatum - a region of the brain associated with rewards - is much more activated in non-lonely people than in the lonely when they view pictures of people in pleasant settings.
In contrast, the temporoparietal junction - a region associated with taking the perspective of another person - is much less activated among lonely than in the non-lonely when viewing pictures of people in unpleasant settings.
" There are several important implications of this study.
First, mental professionals should routinely screen all depressed for social isolation and initiate strategies to correct this.
Second, individuals who are experiencing significant levels of social isolation should immediately seek professional assistance to help them overcome this condition.
This study makes it clear that social isolation affects not only how people behave and also affects the structure and functioning of their brain.
The Bottom Line: The results of this study strongly suggest that loneliness and social isolation affect both behavior and brain structure and functioning.
An article published February 16, 2009 in Medical News Today examines this issue.
The article reports on results of a study at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
The researchers studied "23 female undergraduates who were tested to determine their level of loneliness.
While in an fMRI scanner, the subjects were shown unpleasant pictures and human conflict as well as pleasant things such as money and happy people.
" The results of the study were interesting.
The researchers discovered that "..
..
that the ventral striatum - a region of the brain associated with rewards - is much more activated in non-lonely people than in the lonely when they view pictures of people in pleasant settings.
In contrast, the temporoparietal junction - a region associated with taking the perspective of another person - is much less activated among lonely than in the non-lonely when viewing pictures of people in unpleasant settings.
" There are several important implications of this study.
First, mental professionals should routinely screen all depressed for social isolation and initiate strategies to correct this.
Second, individuals who are experiencing significant levels of social isolation should immediately seek professional assistance to help them overcome this condition.
This study makes it clear that social isolation affects not only how people behave and also affects the structure and functioning of their brain.
The Bottom Line: The results of this study strongly suggest that loneliness and social isolation affect both behavior and brain structure and functioning.
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