# Brains of Lonely People Work Differently article



## bflygirl (Mar 13, 2009)

Anyone else seen this article online? I have issues with how the "lonely" women were shown pictures of happy people doing social things to measure the part of their brain that should lit up when you are feeling socially secured. We don't need studies like this making lonely people out to be any more different than we are already perceived to be. Plus the same size was only 23, too small to be relevant in my opinion. What do you all think?

*Brains of Lonely People Work Differently*

http://www.livescience.com/health/090218-lonely-brain.html


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## scaredtolive (Mar 19, 2009)

wow 1 in 5 are lonely. That's higher than I thought. Sucks being one of the one's though.


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## solasum (Nov 17, 2008)

You're right; the sample size seems way too small to be accurate. It kind of seems like another one of those studies where they already have the end result in mind and kind of mold the evidence to support it. I could be wrong, though.


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## striker (Jun 20, 2008)

I tend to be suspicious of studies nowadays. Scientific research has become corrupted with peudo-scientific stuff, designed to sell the next major drug coming out of greedy labs.

Most of the time, these are meant to cause confusion in the readers mind. Confusion will result in seeking 'Expert' opinion, ie, approaching salesmen aka.. Docs for advise, Who in turn are glad to sell you the drugs. Its amazing to see how well regulated medical industry is in the US.

If you observe these "studies" for a long enough duration, then they are often contradictory. If independent studies come up with the same result, then they might be worth looking into. 

I agree with this from the article from personal experience: 
"In his 2008 book, Cacioppo and co-author William Patrick, former science editor at Harvard University Press, argue that loneliness creates a feedback loop that reinforces social anxiety, fear and other negative feelings"


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## SomethingTangible (May 8, 2009)

> I agree with this from the article from personal experience:
> "In his 2008 book, Cacioppo and co-author William Patrick, former science editor at Harvard University Press, argue that loneliness creates a feedback loop that reinforces social anxiety, fear and other negative feelings"


Ditto, and all the information I really need to know.  Break the cycle.


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## soundofsilence (Apr 3, 2009)

Yeah 23 is definately too small a sample.


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## back2life (Feb 27, 2009)

sociologists gasp at call in surveys, i learnt at universities because those, who simply call in are ones with strong feelings about it, and theres no accuracy or rigourous scientific "elimination of variables".


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## bowlingpins (Oct 18, 2008)

Here's another interesting article somewhat related to the one you posted.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10566320

EDIT: It says that people with anxiety may have smaller brain volumes in regions of the brain similar to the ones mentioned in the article you posted. So I guess even though 23 is a very small sample size, the study shouldn't be outright discounted. Hopefully, studies such as these will lead to treatments ..


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## Madison_Rose (Feb 27, 2009)

A further study suggests that bears often excrete in the woods, but the team could only offer speculation as to why.


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

Madison_Rose said:


> A further study suggests that bears often excrete in the woods, but the team could only offer speculation as to why.


:wtf :con :spit


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## Amelia (Nov 24, 2003)

I don't understand how looking at photos of people enjoying themselves should be expected to trigger a part of the brain that responds to a reward like food or money. Why didn't they just feed or pay the participants and see how their brains reacted?


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## Madison_Rose (Feb 27, 2009)

millenniumman75 said:


> :wtf :con :spit


Sarcasm. Standard, sarcastic response to a daft question: "Do bears poo in the woods? Is the Pope Catholic?"

Is this a British thing, unfamiliar to everyone else?


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## mud (Apr 12, 2009)

striker said:


> If independent studies come up with the same result, then they might be worth looking into.


That is the control mechanism in science: peer review. Anyway the article does point out that it is a prelimenary study.


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## Black_Widow (May 23, 2008)

Amelia said:


> I don't understand how looking at photos of people enjoying themselves should be expected to trigger a part of the brain that responds to a reward like food or money. Why didn't they just feed or pay the participants and see how their brains reacted?


Me either. If anything I'd expect it more likely that doing something like that would cause a negative brain response, seeing as depression often goes hand in hand with loneliness.


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## wrongnumber (May 24, 2009)

I don't think there is anything wrong with the sample. 23 people for a brain imaging study is the norm because brain imaging is extremely expensive. 

Second of all I don't think there is anything wrong with the conclusions. I don't think it's a way of singling out lonely people to make them feel like freaks. They are just finding what might be biological markers of loneliness and SA. Ultimately, information like this may help clinicians and researchers develop better treatments for SA.


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## AshenSpirit (Jun 1, 2009)

What bothers me about these studies is that behavior effects brain chemistry/activity and brain chemistry/activity effects behavior.

In the end, the best treatment you can get is without drugs and by changing your own behavior.

That plus people are different and a lot of them are screwed up in different ways. Minimize your weaknesses and maximize your strengths.

There is never going to be a time where you can just go order up magical cures without seriously screwing up some other (side effects). 

Nature: abundance in variation.


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## jer (Jun 16, 2009)

Madison_Rose said:


> A further study suggests that bears often excrete in the woods, but the team could only offer speculation as to why.


hehehe

Women may be lonely , but they sure have a sense of humor.


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## Traci (Jan 26, 2004)

Madison_Rose said:


> A further study suggests that bears often excrete in the woods, but the team could only offer speculation as to why.


I lol'd.


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## miminka (May 10, 2009)

bowlingpins said:


> Here's another interesting article somewhat related to the one you posted.
> http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?c_id=204&objectid=10566320
> 
> EDIT: It says that people with anxiety may have smaller brain volumes in regions of the brain similar to the ones mentioned in the article you posted. So I guess even though 23 is a very small sample size, the study shouldn't be outright discounted. Hopefully, studies such as these will lead to treatments ..


I liked that article.



That Article said:


> There is no point shouting at a child who is very shy and telling them off, because it does not come naturally to them to put themselves forward.


I'd like to know who would shout at a child for being shy.


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## millenniumman75 (Feb 4, 2005)

Madison_Rose said:


> Sarcasm. Standard, sarcastic response to a daft question: "Do bears poo in the woods? Is the Pope Catholic?"
> 
> Is this a British thing, unfamiliar to everyone else?


That is what the spit take was for.

It's been three months, and I just burst out laughing once again. :lol


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