當我們孤獨時，親密的朋友、同事和名人對我們的大腦來說似乎都是一樣的

當我們孤獨時，親密的朋友、同事和名人對我們的大腦來說似乎都是一樣的

The activity patterns of these brain regions reflect self-other closeness: The closer the relationship, the more the patterns resemble each other.

這些大腦區(qū)域的活動模式反映了自我與他人的親密關系：關系越密切，彼此之間的模式就越相似。

If you're lonely, your brain might value Ellen DeGeneres, Mark Zuckerberg, your coworker and your best friend all the same.

如果你感到孤獨，你的大腦可能會將艾倫·德杰尼勒斯、馬克·扎克伯格、你的同事和你最好的朋友視為平等的。

Loneliness — a perceived gap or disconnection between yourself and others — might affect how your brain perceives the people or relationships in your life, according to a study published Monday in the journal J. Neurosci.

根據(jù)周一發(fā)表在《J.神經(jīng)科學》雜志上的一項研究，孤獨——你和他人之間的一種感知差距或脫節(jié)——可能會影響你的大腦對你生活中的人或關系的感知。

Here's how that perception might happen.

下面是這種感知是如何發(fā)生的。

Social connection is critical to our well-being, according to studies showing that having good relationships with friends and family boosts our mental and physical health. The more socially connected a person is, the higher his or her likelihood of reduced blood pressure, weight and stress.

社會關系對我們的幸福至關重要，研究表明，與朋友和家人保持良好的關系可以促進我們的身心健康。一個人的社會關系越密切，他或她降低血壓、體重和壓力的可能性就越高。

On the flip side, social isolation has been linked with a higher risk of early death and a higher risk of diseases such as heart disease and cancer.

另一方面，社交孤立與早逝的高風險以及心臟病和癌癥等疾病的高風險有關。

Although feeling close to others is so crucial, how the brain reflects that closeness has remained mostly obscure, according to the study. Filling this research gap was critical, the authors contended, as it might reveal mechanisms doctors and lonely patients could act upon to improve interpersonal connection and thus health.

研究顯示，盡管與他人的親密感是如此重要，但大腦如何反映這種親密關系，目前仍不清楚。作者認為，填補這一研究空白是至關重要的，因為它可能揭示出醫(yī)生和孤獨患者可以采取哪些機制來改善人際關系，從而促進健康。

With increased reports of loneliness around the world, the impact of loneliness on people's health has researchers concerned.

隨著世界各地關于孤獨的報道越來越多，孤獨對人們健康的影響引起了研究人員的關注。

Previous research has emphasized the strength of "weak ties" — those maintained by regular interactions with acquaintances with whom we work or attend school. Acquaintances might have an important role in well-being and social support.

之前的研究強調(diào)了“弱關系”的力量——那些通過與工作或上學的熟人定期互動而保持的關系。熟人可能在幸福和社會支持方面發(fā)揮重要作用。

"Our findings suggest that understanding how the brain represents weak ties may yield important insight into how loneliness links to negative outcomes," the study said.

研究稱:“我們的發(fā)現(xiàn)表明，了解大腦是如何表現(xiàn)弱關系的，可能有助于深入了解孤獨與消極結(jié)果之間的關系。”

Some recent articles on social distancing and working from home have cited the obscure importance and current absence of weak ties as reason for worry about the potential effects of both shifts on our mental health.

最近一些關于社交距離和在家工作的文章提到，這種重要性不再明顯以及目前弱關系的缺失，讓我們擔心這兩種變化對我們心理健康的潛在影響。

"We're missing out on a lot of that," said first author Andrea Courtney, a postdoctoral research fellow in psychology at Stanford University in California. "So that could be a part of why we're seeing increases in loneliness."

“我們錯過了很多這樣的弱關系，”第一作者安德里亞·考特尼說，他是加州斯坦福大學心理學博士后研究員。“所以這可能是我們看到孤獨增加的部分原因。”

In the new study, the authors conducted brain scans on the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), the region of the brain associated with self-representation.

在這項新的研究中，作者對內(nèi)側(cè)前額葉皮質(zhì)(MPFC)進行了腦部掃描，MPFC是大腦中與自我表現(xiàn)相關的區(qū)域。

The MPFC is known to activate when thinking about oneself, but it has exhibited similar activation when thinking about people one is close with.

我們知道，MPFC在思考自己的時候會被激活，但在思考自己親近的人的時候，它也表現(xiàn)出類似的激活。

The scans showed that the MPFC maintained a network of social circles, based on closeness. The gap between oneself and others that lonely people often perceive was reflected by altered activity patterns in the brains of lonelier participants.

掃描結(jié)果顯示，MPFC維持著一個基于親密度的社交圈網(wǎng)絡。孤獨的人經(jīng)常察覺到自己與他人之間的差距，這反映在孤獨者大腦活動模式的改變上。