How is Social Connection Represented in the Brain?

Using the Brain to Reveal Mental Representations of Subjective Connection

Nearly half of the U.S. population sometimes or always experiences loneliness, which is alarming given that loneliness confers risk for negative mental and physical health outcomes. Extensive research suggests loneliness is characterized by subjective isolation: many lonely individuals maintain a number of relationships but still report feeling lonely. The goal of this proposal is to use functional magnetic resonance imaging to reveal how the brain represents our subjective connection to and isolation from other people, which will ultimately inform optimal ways to intervene to reduce loneliness.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Loneliness
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Basic Science Experiment

Detailed Description

Extensive research suggests loneliness is characterized by subjective isolation: many lonely individuals maintain a number of relationships but still report feeling lonely. Thus, a neurobiological account of loneliness requires that we understand how the brain represents subjective connections to others and how loneliness alters these representations. The long-term goal of this proposal is to identify how subjective isolation is represented in the brain in order to identify novel ways to intervene on this representation to attenuate loneliness. This study proposes that the brain organizes representations of people based on subjective connection to them, and that loneliness systematically alters this organization. The Specific Aim 1 will determine whether subjective closeness organizes self and other representations in the brain. While undergoing fMRI, participants will complete tasks in which they reflect on themselves and other people. They will also report on their subjective closeness to the other people. The study will test whether the brain organizes mental representations of the self and one's own social network members based on subjective closeness. The Specific Aim 2 will determine how loneliness modulates self and other representations in the brain. The Specific, Exploratory Aim 3 will determine the cognitive consequences of altered self and other representation in loneliness. The proposal of this study is imperative for ultimately revealing neurocognitive mechanisms to intervene on to reduce loneliness.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 248

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Meghan L Meyer, PhD; Phone Number: 650-521-1701; Email: mlm2378@columbia.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10032
      • Recruiting
      • Columbia University Irving Medical Center
      • Contact: Meghan L Meyer, PhD; Phone Number: 650-521-1701

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 55 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Participants will be between the ages of 18 and 65

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• safe for MRI scanning
• not taking psychiatric medication

Exclusion Criteria:

• not safe for MRI scanning
• taking psychiatric medication

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Other
• Time Perspectives: Cross-Sectional

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Blood Oxygenated-Level Dependent (BOLD) Response	2 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Columbia University
• Collaborators: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Meghan Meyer, PhD, Columbia University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Estimated): November 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): November 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 30, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 30, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): October 8, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): December 16, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 11, 2025
• Last Verified: December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: AAAU7311; 1R01MH125406-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No