ArticleNature communications2020
The default network of the human brain is associated with perceived social isolation.
Article in Nature communications, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 119 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
119 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 235 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neurobiology of loneliness: a systematic review.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2021Pooled it
- Social exclusion reliably engages the default network: A meta-analysis of Cyberball.NeuroImage · 2021Pooled it
- Lonelier people feel less empathic despite intact neural empathy responses after meditation training.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2026Trial
- Large-Scale Neuroimaging and Genetic Analyses of the Human Thalamus in Loneliness.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2026Article
- What makes a lonely child: environmental, health, and multimodal neuroimaging correlates of prospective loneliness in the ABCD study.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2026Article
- Individual-Level Associations of Cognition and Personality With Adolescent Mental Health Vary Across Brain and Environmental Profiles.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Brain activity and functional connectivity patterns associated with loneliness: A resting-state fMRI study.Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience · 2026Article
- Associations of social isolation and loneliness with neurological disorders, psychiatric disorders, brain structures and behavioural phenotypes among UK Biobank participants.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Associations between negative symptoms and resting-state functional connectivity within social brain networks among individuals with early psychosis.Schizophrenia (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Independent and joint associations of psychological resilience and social support with cognitive impairment among middle-aged and older Chinese adults.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2026Article
- Automatic speech analysis can predict loneliness.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Sociability and whole-brain resting-state connectivity.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Comprehensive large-scale analyses reveal association between brain structure and cognitive ability during adolescence.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Social Disconnection in the Brain: Loneliness and Age across Networks using Graph Theory.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Cell type transcriptomic modules reveal shared molecular mechanisms in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.GigaScience · 2026Article
- Loneliness and cognitive aging: a brain-heart axis perspective on a modifiable risk.Frontiers in aging · 2026Review
- The intervention targets of family functioning and cognitive insight in community-dwelling individuals with schizophrenia: a simulated network analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Loneliness as a sex-specific risk factor for cognitive aging.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Review
- Early life social isolation stress and pain vulnerability: unraveling neuroimmune mechanisms and central sensitization.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- Neural bases of consciousness in Zen meditation: central executive and default mode networks during cognitive conflict.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
59 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
16 authors at 11 institutions in 6 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Humans survive and thrive through social exchange. Yet, social dependency also comes at a cost. Perceived social isolation, or loneliness, affects physical and mental health, cognitive performance, overall life expectancy, and increases vulnerability to Alzheimer's disease-related dementias. Despite severe consequences on behavior and health, the neural basis of loneliness remains elusive. Using the UK Biobank population imaging-genetics cohort (n = ~40,000, aged 40-69 years when recruited, mean age = 54.9), we test for signatures of loneliness in grey matter morphology, intrinsic functional coupling, and fiber tract microstructure. The loneliness-linked neurobiological profiles converge on a collection of brain regions known as the 'default network'. This higher associative network shows more consistent loneliness associations in grey matter volume than other cortical brain networks. Lonely individuals display stronger functional communication in the default network, and greater microstructural integrity of its fornix pathway. The findings fit with the possibility that the up-regulation of these neural circuits supports mentalizing, reminiscence and imagination to fill the social void.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.