Scientists show what loneliness looks like in the brain: Neural 'signature' may reflect... - 0 views
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This holiday season will be a lonely one for many people as social distancing due to COVID-19 continues, and it is important to understand how isolation affects our health.
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This holiday season will be a lonely one for many people as social distancing due to COVID-19 continues, and it is important to understand how isolation affects our health.
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based on variations in the volume of different brain regions as well as based on how those regions communicate with one another across brain networks.
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They then compared the MRI data of participants who reported often feeling lonely with those who did not.
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Researchers found the default networks of lonely people were more strongly wired together and surprisingly, their grey matter volume in regions of the default network was greater.
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The fact the structure and function of this network is positively associated with loneliness may be because lonely people are more likely to use imagination, memories of the past or hopes for the future to overcome their social isolation.
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In lonely people, the structure of this fibre tract was better preserved.
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"In the absence of desired social experiences, lonely individuals may be biased towards internally-directed thoughts such as reminiscing or imagining social experiences.
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Loneliness is increasingly being recognized as a major health problem, and previous studies have shown older people who experience loneliness have a higher risk of cognitive decline and dementia.
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the urgency of reducing loneliness in today's society,