Loneliness inside of the brain: evidence from a large dataset of resting-state fMRI in young adult

Denilson Brilliant T; Hikaru Takeuchi; Rui Nouchi; Ryoichi Yokoyama; Yuka Kotozaki; Seishu Nakagawa; Sugiko Hanawa; Atsushi Sekiguchi; Shigeyuki Ikeda; Kohei Sakaki; Kelssy Hitomi Dos Santos Kawata; Takayuki Nozawa; Susumu Yokota; Daniele Magistro; Ryuta Kawashima

doi:10.1038/s41598-022-11724-5

Loneliness inside of the brain: evidence from a large dataset of resting-state fMRI in young adult

Sci Rep. 2022 May 12;12(1):7856. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-11724-5.

Authors

Denilson Brilliant T¹, Hikaru Takeuchi², Rui Nouchi^{3

4}, Ryoichi Yokoyama⁵, Yuka Kotozaki⁶, Seishu Nakagawa^{7

8}, Sugiko Hanawa⁷, Atsushi Sekiguchi⁹, Shigeyuki Ikeda¹⁰, Kohei Sakaki¹¹, Kelssy Hitomi Dos Santos Kawata¹², Takayuki Nozawa¹³, Susumu Yokota¹⁴, Daniele Magistro¹⁵, Ryuta Kawashima^{11

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Advanced Brain Science, Institute of Development, Ageing and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan. denilson.brilliant.tjoktandwinata.p3@dc.tohoku.ac.jp.
² Division of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Institute of Development, Ageing and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
³ Smart-Aging Research Center, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
⁴ Departments of Cognitive Health Science, Institute of Development, Ageing and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
⁵ Suwa Red Cross Hospital, Suwa, Japan.
⁶ Division of Clinical Research, Medical-Industry Translational Research Center, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan.
⁷ Department of Human Brain Science, Institute of Development, Ageing and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
⁸ Division of Psychiatry, Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Sendai, Japan.
⁹ Department of Behavioral Medicine, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁰ RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project, Tokyo, Japan.
¹¹ Department of Advanced Brain Science, Institute of Development, Ageing and Cancer, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan.
¹² Department of Mechanical and Intelligent Systems Engineering, The University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo, Japan.
¹³ Research Institute for the Earth Inclusive Sensing, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁴ Faculty of Arts and Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
¹⁵ Department of Sport Science, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, England.

Abstract

Although loneliness itself is a natural emotion, prolonged loneliness is detrimental to human health. Despite its detrimental effect, few loneliness-related neuroimaging studies have been published and some have limitations on the sample size number. This study aims to find the difference in resting-state functional connectivity associated with loneliness within a big sample size via the seed-based approach. Functional connectivity analysis was performed on a large cohort of young adults (N = 1336) using the seed-based functional connectivity approach to address the concern from previous studies. The analysis yielded statistically significant positive correlations between loneliness and functional connectivities between the inferior frontal gyrus and supplementary motor area, precentral gyrus, and superior parietal lobule. Additionally, the analysis replicated a finding from a previous study, which is increased functional connectivities between the inferior frontal gyrus and supplementary motor area. In conclusion, greater loneliness is reflected by stronger functional connectivity of the visual attention brain area.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Brain / diagnostic imaging
Brain Mapping
Humans
Loneliness*
Magnetic Resonance Imaging* / methods
Prefrontal Cortex
Young Adult