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Abstract
Perceived social isolation, or loneliness, significantly impacts health and well-being. This study utilized the UK Biobank cohort (n ≈ 40,000) to investigate the neural correlates of loneliness using multimodal neuroimaging. Results revealed that loneliness is associated with alterations in the default network, a brain region involved in self-referential processing and mentalizing. Lonely individuals showed stronger functional communication within this network and greater microstructural integrity of its fornix pathway, suggesting that upregulation of these circuits might compensate for the lack of social interaction.
Publisher
Nature Communications
Published On
Dec 15, 2020
Authors
R. Nathan Spreng, Emile Dimas, Laetitia Mwilambwe-Tshilobo, Alain Dagher, Philipp Koellinger, Gideon Nave, Anthony Ong, Julius M. Kernbach, Thomas V. Wiecki, Tian Ge, Yue Li, Avram J. Holmes, B. T. Thomas Yeo, Gary R. Turner, Robin I. M. Dunbar, Danilo Bzdok
Tags
loneliness
neuroimaging
brain connectivity
social isolation
UK Biobank
default network
mental health

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