SynthesisNeuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology2021
Neurobiology of loneliness: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 103 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
103 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 218 citations in OpenAlex.
- Loneliness as an Interface Between Alzheimer's Disease and Suicidal Behaviour: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis and Meta-Analytic Factor Analysis.Psychogeriatrics : the official journal of the Japanese Psychogeriatric Society · 2026Pooled it
- Loneliness among community-dwelling older adults across biological, clinical and psychosocial domains before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Experiences of Loneliness Across the Lifespan: A Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis of Qualitative Studies.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2023Pooled it
- Are social isolation and loneliness associated with cognitive decline in ageing?Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2023Pooled it
- A Survey to Assess Loneliness and Predictive Factors Among Students at a US Medical School.Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry · 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
- Loneliness in Focus: Proposing a Resident Curriculum.Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry · 2026Article
- Strain-Specific Cognitive and Neurobiological Vulnerabilities to Social Isolation in Late Middle-Aged Wistar, Wistar-Kyoto, and Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats.Neurochemical research · 2026Article
- Loneliness, Genetic Susceptibility, Brain Structure, and the Risk of Schizophrenia: A Large Prospective Study.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2026Article
- Social interactions between people of same and different generations shape longitudinal changes in interpersonal neural synchrony, loneliness, and social connection.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- Prevalence of social disconnection in the general adult population - results from DISCONNECT study.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2026Article
- Brain activity and functional connectivity patterns associated with loneliness: A resting-state fMRI study.Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience · 2026Article
- Social connectedness and cognitive outcomes in rural middle- to older-age adults.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Review
- The relationship between core self-evaluation and cognitive failures among Chinese college students: a moderated mediation model.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Social Disconnection in the Brain: Loneliness and Age across Networks using Graph Theory.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Loneliness exacerbates age differences in the -allostatic-interoceptive system during induced affect.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2026Article
- Loneliness as a sex-specific risk factor for cognitive aging.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2026Review
- Social disconnection in the brain: loneliness and age across networks using graph theory.Oxford open neuroscience · 2026Article
- Article
- Synergistic effects of group-based exercise to reduce loneliness and social isolation and to prevent cognitive decline among older adults with cancer.Frontiers in aging · 2026Article
43 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Loneliness is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Deeper understanding of neurobiological mechanisms underlying loneliness is needed to identify potential intervention targets. We did not find any systematic review of neurobiology of loneliness. Using MEDLINE and PsycINFO online databases, we conducted a search for peer-reviewed publications examining loneliness and neurobiology. We identified 41 studies (n = 16,771 participants) that had employed various methods including computer tomography (CT), structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET), and post-mortem brain tissue RNA analysis or pathological analysis. Our synthesis of the published findings shows abnormal structure (gray matter volume or white matter integrity) and/or activity (response to pleasant versus stressful images in social versus nonsocial contexts) in the prefrontal cortex (especially medial and dorsolateral), insula (particularly anterior), amygdala, hippocampus, and posterior superior temporal cortex. The findings related to ventral striatum and cerebellum were mixed. fMRI studies reported links between loneliness and differential activation of attentional networks, visual networks, and default mode network. Loneliness was also related to biological markers associated with Alzheimer's disease (e.g., amyloid and tau burden). Although the published investigations have limitations, this review suggests relationships of loneliness with altered structure and function in specific brain regions and networks. We found a notable overlap in the regions involved in loneliness and compassion, the two personality traits that are inversely correlated in previous studies. We have offered recommendations for future research studies of neurobiology of loneliness.
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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.