Lonely People's Brain Activity Shows They Process the World Uniquely
Not only does their brain activity differ from non-lonely people, but they also differ from other lonely people
Hiya!
We, humans, are a social species, meaning that having genuine connections with others is crucial for our health. Feeling isolated and alone can lead to devastating consequences for both our bodies and minds. Loneliness is a sucky feeling we all experience at some point, but it’s also an inescapable part of life. Feeling like an outsider or like we’re constantly misunderstood either leads us toward growth or brings out the worst part of ourselves — sometimes both.
The Pandemic has exacerbated feelings of loneliness in a whole new and unexpected way. It’s causing massive social problems, in some cases life-threatening ones. Thankfully, psychologists and neuroscientists are working hard to learn how loneliness affects the brain and hoping to find a solution. Because even if we don’t personally feel lonely, we can see its effects in society, and that does (or will) impact us. Not to mention bringing awareness might help us notice or take seriously when someone we know shows signs of loneliness.
Rise in Loneliness
I don’t need to tell you that the 2020 global Lock Down event in response to the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on our collective mental health. Some people had it worse than others, especially the youth and elderly, but also extroverts, if we’re honest. As a result, reported feelings of isolation, disconnection, and loneliness skyrocketed, as did anxiety and depression rates.
However, even before the Pandemic, the Surgeon General reports that “approximately half of U.S. adults reported experiencing measurable levels of loneliness.” But, of course, the Pandemic didn’t exactly help the situation in any way. Now, loneliness is spreading like a virus to the point that in May 2023, the Surgeon General issued an advisory regarding an Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation in the United States. On NPR’s All Things Considered podcast, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy explained:
"It's hard to put a price tag, if you will, on the amount of human suffering that people are experiencing right now. In the last few decades, we've just lived through a dramatic pace of change. We move more, we change jobs more often, we are living with technology that has profoundly changed how we interact with each other and how we talk to each other."
Plus, the tricky thing about loneliness is that it can be challenging to recognize. As you might know, you can be surrounded by people but still feel lonely. Even people with thriving social lives and full calendars can feel isolated—because it’s not about the number of people we’re around but the quality of connection we have with them.
Impacts of Loneliness
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services summarizes some of the more dire health consequences of “poor or insufficient connections” with others:
“The physical health consequences of poor or insufficient connection include a 29% increased risk of heart disease, a 32% increased risk of stroke, and a 50% increased risk of developing dementia for older adults. Additionally, lacking social connection increases risk of premature death by more than 60%.”
So, ya know, not great — and unfortunately, that’s not all.
Feeling isolated and lonely also dramatically influences our mental health and can contribute to substantial challenges. Lonely adults are over twice as likely to develop depression than people who rarely or never feel lonely. Children are similar, except they are also at a higher risk for developing depression in the future, too.
Considering the seriousness and broadness of loneliness’s effects on our mental and physical health, it’s time to understand how loneliness works in the brain.
Loneliness in the Brain
Previous research from 2014 identified specific brain regions associated with either feeling understood or misunderstood by others.
Areas related to reward processing and social connections are activated when we feel understood by other people — specifically the temporoparietal junction, precuneus, middle insula, and ventral striatum. The ventral striatum, for instance, releases our feel-good neurotransmitter, dopamine, when we feel connected to others, which in turn encourages us to be social again.
On the flip side, when we feel misunderstood, our anterior insula and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex activate, which are linked to our “negative” emotions like loneliness, which lead us to withdraw further from others.
A month before the Surgeon General announced the Epidemic of Loneliness, the journal Psychological Science published a study led by psychologist Elisa Baek at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), which suggests that people experiencing loneliness or isolation have unique brain activity.
The Study
Baek’s inspiration for the study actually came from Leo Tolstoy’s famous novel Anna Karenina. Specifically, Baek wanted to investigate a concept known as the “Anna Karenina principle,” which is inspired by the novel’s opening line: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
For the study, Baek and her team had 66 UCLA college freshmen (41 females and 25 males between the ages of 18 and 21 years) fill out in-depth surveys regarding their subjective feelings about their social lives. Those who scored above a certain point were labeled “lonely,” while those who scored under it were deemed “non-lonely.” Then the team scanned the students’ brains using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) while they watched short video clips of social interactions like parties and listened to sentimental music that could trigger emotions.
The fMRI scans show the students’ neural activity by measuring even the slightest changes in blood flow in the brain. The scans also reveal which brain areas are engaged during specific activities, so Baek and her team could see which brain regions were activated as the participants watched the video clips and if they matched the areas typically involved in socializing and the emotions surrounding it.
After the scans were completed, the team analyzed them in pairs to better identify differences and similarities in brain activity between the non-lonely and lonely individuals — and the differences and similarities between two non-lonely or two lonely people.
The Results
In the end, Baek’s study suggests there is some truth to the Anna Karenina principle. The team discovered that the fMRI brain scans of the non-lonely students were remarkably similar as they watched the videos. Meanwhile, the brain activity of those categorized as lonely not only differed from the non-lonely group; they also clashed with other people in the lonely group.
This suggests that every lonely person (or at least everyone in this study) uniquely perceives the world. Baek summarizes their findings:
“Our results suggest that lonely people process the world idiosyncratically, which may contribute to the reduced sense of being understood that often accompanies loneliness.”
The study also confirms previous observations that the size of someone’s social life is basically worthless. Some students who reported participating in social events and having many friends exhibited brain activity that differed from those found in people considered non-lonely.
Baek suggests that having a different point of view from other people can make lonely people feel even lonelier because they’re more likely to feel misunderstood, leading to further social withdrawal and isolation. However, there is a sort of “chicken or egg” conundrum that Baek acknowledges. More research is needed before we’ll know whether this disconnection and different brain activity is a cause or effect of loneliness — or maybe somehow both.
Perspective Shift
Life gets busy, and we all have a lot on our plates, making it easy to forget to check in with friends or family. We may not notice when someone withdraws, or perhaps we assume they are just busy like we are. Other times it’s tricky to tell when someone is struggling with loneliness because it affects people differently. As Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy points out:
"Some people react to loneliness by withdrawing and getting quiet. Others react to loneliness by becoming irritable and angry, and they may lash out more. That's why sometimes it takes a little time to really reflect on what's happening in our life. And sometimes we need somebody else to tell us, 'Hey, you've been withdrawing more' to help us understand that we might actually be dealing with loneliness."
As an introvert, I’ll often “go quiet,” as my friends say, but they always check in if they haven’t heard from me in a couple of weeks. Just to make sure everything is okay — which it usually is because I quite enjoy spending time with just me. But sometimes I am feeling lonely, misunderstood, or am going through something, and that check-in saves me.
Now I’m sure to return the favor whenever someone crosses my mind that I haven’t talked to in a while or when my close friends go quiet themselves. More often than not, the person is struggling with something, but even when they aren’t, everyone appreciates knowing someone else thinks of them and cares about their well-being.
Just as a reminder, you’re currently reading my free newsletter Curious Adventure. If you’re itching for more, you’ll probably enjoy my other newsletter, Curious Life, which you’ve already received sneak peeks of on Monday mornings. The subscription fee goes toward helping me pay my bills so I can continue doing what I love — following my curiosities and sharing what I learn with you.
By the way, Substack is now letting me offer you deals for referring someone to Curious Life. Check it out!
You can find more of my writing on Medium. If you’re not a member but want to be, click here to sign up! Doing so allows you to read mine and thousands of other indie writers to your heart’s content.
Lastly, if you enjoy my work and want to show me support, you can donate to my PalPal or my Ko-fi page, where you can also commission me to investigate a curiosity of your own! Thank you for reading. I appreciate you.
