孤独感影响你的大脑活动

孤独的时候，是不是对什么都提不起兴趣觉得啥都没劲？well，你的大脑受到 了孤独感的影响。芝加哥大学研究者最近发现，离群索居不但让你行为改变，还改变了你的大脑运作。

腹侧纹状体（ventral striatums）是一个和奖赏性高度相关的脑区。
The ventral striatum, which is critical to learning, is a key portion of the brain and is activated through primary rewards such as food and secondary rewards such as money. Social rewards and feelings of love also may activate the region.

该实验中，23个女大学生先自我评定孤独水平，然后看一些令人快乐的照片和一些让人不愉快的照片，同时fMRI扫描她们的大脑。结果发现孤独的被试，她们看快乐照片时腹侧纹状体激活比较弱。研究者认为，孤独感可能影响了大脑的运作，同时也可能是纹状体激发了孤独感。
"The study raises the intriguing possibility that loneliness may result from reduced reward-related activity in the ventral striatum in response to social rewards."


除了纹状体外，fMRI 还显示孤独感还会影响其他脑区



附： sciencedaily报道

Loneliness Affects How The Brain Operates

Journal references:

1. Cacioppo et al. What Are the Brain Mechanisms on Which Psychological Processes Are Based? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 2009; 4 (1): 10 DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-6924.2009.01094.x
2. Cacioppo et al. In the Eye of the Beholder: Individual Differences in Perceived Social Isolation Predict Regional Brain Activation to Social Stimuli. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 2009; 21 (1): 83 DOI: 10.1162/jocn.2009.21007