ABSTRACT

Loneliness is defined as the subjective feeling that one’s social needs are not satisfied by both quantity and quality of one’s social relationships. Loneliness has been linked to a broad range of adverse physical and mental health consequences. There is an interest in identifying the neural and molecular processes by which loneliness adversely affects health. Prior imaging studies reported divergent networks involved in cognitive, emotional, and social processes associated with loneliness. Although loneliness is common among both younger and older adults, it is experienced differently across the lifespan and has different antecedents and consequences. The current study measured regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) using pulsed arterial spin labeling imaging. Forty-five older (M_age = 63.4) and forty-four younger adults (M_age = 20.9) with comparable degrees of loneliness were included. Whole-brain voxel-wise analysis revealed a main effect of age (in superior temporal and supramarginal gyri), but no main effect of loneliness. Furthermore, the age effect was only observed among people who reported higher level of loneliness. These regions have previously been implicated in social- and attention-related functions. The moderation of loneliness on age and regional CBF suggests that younger and older individuals present differential neural manifestations in response to loneliness, even with comparable levels of loneliness.

摘要

孤独感被定义为一个人的社会需求不能被一个人的社会关系的数量和质量所满足的主观感受。孤独与广泛的身心健康不良后果有关。有兴趣确定孤独感对健康产生不利影响的神经和分子过程。先前的成像研究报告了与孤独相关的认知、情感和社会过程中涉及的不同网络。尽管孤独感在年轻人和老年人中都很常见，但在整个生命周期中都会有不同的体验，并且有不同的前因和后果。目前的研究使用脉冲动脉自旋标记成像测量局部脑血流量 (CBF)。四十五岁（M_年龄 = 63.4) 和 44 名孤独感程度相当的 年轻人 ( M _{age = 20.9)。}全脑体素分析揭示了年龄的主要影响（在颞上回和边缘上回），但没有孤独感的主要影响。此外，年龄效应仅在报告孤独程度较高的人群中观察到。这些区域以前与社会和注意力相关的功能有关。孤独感对年龄和区域 CBF 的缓和表明，即使具有相当的孤独感水平，年轻和年长的个体也会对孤独感表现出不同的神经表现。