Acute social isolation evokes midbrain craving responses similar to hunger

Tomova, Livia; Wang, Kimberly L.; Thompson, Todd W.; Matthews, Gillian A.; Takahashi, Atsushi; Tye, Kay M.; Saxe, Rebecca

doi:10.1038/s41593-020-00742-z

Cited by 165 publications

(118 citation statements)

References 101 publications

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“…Three studies of ventral striatum response to social images produced divergent results [ 25 , 34 , 62 ]. A recently published fMRI study (published past our cutoff date) reported similar activation in substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area (SN/VTA) among young adults undergoing either 10 h of social isolation or fasting from food [ 75 ], supporting loneliness as a state that motivates one to seek social interaction, much like hunger motivates one to seek food. Interestingly, lonely participants had less activation in the SN/VTA.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neurobiology of loneliness: a systematic review

Lam

Murray

et al. 2021

Neuropsychopharmacol.

105

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Loneliness is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Deeper understanding of neurobiological mechanisms underlying loneliness is needed to identify potential intervention targets. We did not find any systematic review of neurobiology of loneliness. Using MEDLINE and PsycINFO online databases, we conducted a search for peer-reviewed publications examining loneliness and neurobiology. We identified 41 studies ( n = 16,771 participants) that had employed various methods including computer tomography (CT), structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET), and post-mortem brain tissue RNA analysis or pathological analysis. Our synthesis of the published findings shows abnormal structure (gray matter volume or white matter integrity) and/or activity (response to pleasant versus stressful images in social versus nonsocial contexts) in the prefrontal cortex (especially medial and dorsolateral), insula (particularly anterior), amygdala, hippocampus, and posterior superior temporal cortex. The findings related to ventral striatum and cerebellum were mixed. fMRI studies reported links between loneliness and differential activation of attentional networks, visual networks, and default mode network. Loneliness was also related to biological markers associated with Alzheimer’s disease (e.g., amyloid and tau burden). Although the published investigations have limitations, this review suggests relationships of loneliness with altered structure and function in specific brain regions and networks. We found a notable overlap in the regions involved in loneliness and compassion, the two personality traits that are inversely correlated in previous studies. We have offered recommendations for future research studies of neurobiology of loneliness.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neurobiology of loneliness: a systematic review

Lam

Murray

et al. 2021

Neuropsychopharmacol.

105

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“…Social contact is important for a healthy cognitive, emotional, endocrine and immune development in humans [ 28 ]. It has even been reported that humans can feel a craving for social contact similar to that of food [ 29 ]. In addition to the reduced social contact, the societal lock-down was also accompanied by economic decline and a compromised healthcare system.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Sleep Quality, Stress Level and Health-Related Quality of Life—A Large Prospective Cohort Study on Adult Danes

Didriksen

Werge

Nissen

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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The everyday lives of Danish inhabitants have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, e.g., by social distancing, which was employed by the government in March 2020 to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, the pandemic has entailed economic consequences for many people. This study aims to assess changes in physical and mental health-related quality of life (MCS, PCS), in stress levels, and quality of sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify factors that impact such changes, using a prospective national cohort study including 26,453 participants from the Danish Blood Donor Study who answered a health questionnaire before the pandemic and during the pandemic. Descriptive statistics, multivariable linear and multinomial logistic regression analyses were applied. A worsening of MCS and quality of sleep was found, and an overall decrease in stress levels was observed. PCS was decreased in men and slightly increased in women. The extent of health changes was mainly affected by changes in job situation, type of job, previous use of anti-depressive medication and the participants’ level of personal stamina. Thus, living under the unusual circumstances that persisted during the COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the health of the general population. This may, in time, constitute a public health problem.

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“…From an evolutionary perspective, loneliness may have evolved to motivate the formation of new social relationships, in the same way as hunger induces scavenging. [7-9] However, when the connection with other individuals fails, loneliness impairs inflammatory and immune responses [6,10] and promotes a phenotypic hypersensitivity to social threats and self-centered behavior. [8,11] The perception of the social environment as threatening may lead to various negative biases in loneliness.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Loneliness and the social brain: how perceived social isolation impairs human interactions

Lieberz

Shamay‐Tsoory

Saporta

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Loneliness is a painful condition associated with increased risk for premature mortality. The formation of new, positive social relationships can alleviate feelings of loneliness, but requires rapid trustworthiness decisions during initial encounters and it is still unclear how loneliness hinders interpersonal trust. Here, we use a multimodal approach including behavioral, psychophysiological, hormonal, and neuroimaging measurements to probe a trust-based mechanism underlying impaired social interactions in loneliness. Pre-stratified healthy individuals with high loneliness scores (n = 42 out of a screened sample of 3678 adults) show reduced oxytocinergic and affective responsiveness to a positive conversation, report less interpersonal trust, and prefer larger social distances compared to controls (n = 40). Moreover, lonely individuals are rated as less trustworthy compared to controls and identified by the blinded confederate better than chance. During initial trust decisions, lonely individuals exhibit attenuated limbic and striatal activation and blunted functional connectivity between the anterior insula and occipitoparietal regions, which correlates with the diminished affective responsiveness to the positive social interaction. This neural response pattern is not mediated by loneliness-associated psychological symptoms. Thus, our results indicate compromised integration of trust-related information as a shared neurobiological component in loneliness, yielding a reciprocally reinforced trust bias in social dyads.

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Acute social isolation evokes midbrain craving responses similar to hunger

Cited by 165 publications

References 101 publications

Neurobiology of loneliness: a systematic review

Neurobiology of loneliness: a systematic review

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Sleep Quality, Stress Level and Health-Related Quality of Life—A Large Prospective Cohort Study on Adult Danes

Loneliness and the social brain: how perceived social isolation impairs human interactions

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