RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Alone Again: Altered Activation in the Observation Execution System during Synchronization in High Loneliness Individuals
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.10.17.464634
DO 10.1101/2021.10.17.464634
A1 Nira Saporta
A1 Dirk Scheele
A1 Jana Lieberz
A1 Michael Nevat
A1 Alisa Kanterman
A1 René Hurlemann
A1 Simone G. Shamay-Tsoory
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/10/18/2021.10.17.464634.abstract
AB Lonely people evaluate social exchanges and relationships negatively and display difficulties in interpersonal interaction. Interpersonal synchronization is crucial for achieving positive interactions, promoting affinity, closeness, and satisfaction. However, little is known about lonely individuals’ ability to synchronize and about the activity in the lonely brain while synchronizing. In the present neuroimaging study, 64 participants engaged in interpersonal synchronization, using a novel paradigm involving real dyadic interaction. Results show that high loneliness individuals exhibited a reduced ability to adapt their movement to their partner’s movement. Intriguingly, during periods in which participants adapted their movement, high loneliness individuals showed increased activation in the observation-execution (OE) system, specifically in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and the inferior parietal lobule (IPL). They did not show increased activation in the dmPFC, which in the context of synchronization was suggested to be related to gap-monitoring. Based on these findings, we propose a model according to which lonely people may require a stronger activation of their OE system for movement alignment to compensate for some deficiency in their ability to synchronize. However, despite this hyper-activation, they still suffer from reduced synchronization capacity. Consequently, synchronization may be a relevant intervention area for the amelioration of chronic loneliness.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.