Psychophysiology of

Loneliness
By: Julia McCreary
What Is
Loneliness?
 Perceived inadequate socialization and
support
 Not just social isolation, but the
perception of social isolation
The Social Brain
Hypothesis
 Darwin
 Correlations between neocortex size and
social group size
 Desert locusts
 Solitarious versus gregarious
 Social vs Non-Social Rats
 Increased cognition and synaptogenesis
 Lower cell mortality rate
 Greater excitatory postsynaptic potential slopes of the hippocampus
 Increased acetylcholine
 Increased expression of serotonin A1 receptor gene
Social vs Non-Social Mice
 Thinner myelin sheaths, less proteins, less gene
transcripts in the prefrontal cortex
 Immature nuclear chromatin
 Complete turn around when exposed to socialization
 Male mice have reduced levels of allopregnanolone
The Social
Neuroscience Model
 Evolved self-preservation mode
when experiencing loneliness
 fMRI studies
 Emotional Stroop task
 Visual cortex
 Reward processing
Social Rejection
 Social rejection = physical pain?
Oxytocin and Loneliness
 Lonely individuals have low levels of
oxytocin
 When isolated mice are injected with
oxytocin, they do not show signs of
social isolation
 Neuroprotective role
 Oxytocin suppressing the microglia
 Reduced oxytocin exposure
 The Cardiovascular
System
 Lonely individuals have higher systolic blood
pressure
 Much more noticeable over long periods of time
 Impact may begin as early as the 20s

 Increased peripheral resistance

 Lower cardiac output
 Social support and perceived loneliness can cause
lower pulse pressure reactivity
Dementia
 Lonely people are more likely to develop
Alzheimer’s disease
 No difference in size of social groups or physical
activity
 Slightly decreased relationship when controlling
for cognitive activities
 Increased risk with chronic loneliness
Treatment
 Governments reducing stigma
 Opportunities for social interaction
 Social skills workshops
 Cognitive behavioral therapy
 SSRIs
 Neurosteroids
 Oxytocin

References
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 Burrows, M., Rogers, S. M., & Ott, S. R. (2011). Epigenetic remodelling of brain, body and behaviour during phase change in locusts. Neural Systems & Circuits, 1(1), 11.
https://doi.org/ 10.1186/2042-1001-1-11 
 Cacioppo, S., Capitanio, J. P., & Cacioppo, J. T. (2014). Towards a neurology of loneliness. Psychological Bulletin, 140(6), 1464-1504. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037618
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https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1520-6505(1998)6:5<178::AID-EVAN5>3.0.CO;2-8
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 Karelina, K., Stuller, K. A., Jarrett, B., Zhang, N., Wells, J., Norman, G. J., & DeVries, A. C. (2011). Oxytocin mediates social neuroprotection after cerebral ischemia.
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 Liu, J., Dietz, K., DeLoyht, J. M., Pedre, X., Kelkar, D., Kaur, J., Vialou, V., Lobo, M. K., Dietz, D. M., Nestler, E. J., Dupree, J., & Casaccia P. (2012). Impaired adult
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 Nin, M.S., Martinez, L. A., Pibiri, F., Nelson, M., & Pinna, G. (2011). Neurosteroids reduce social isolation-induced behavior deficits: A proposed link with neurosteroid-
mediated upregulation of BDNF expression. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 2, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2011.00073
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