What Loneliness Does To Your Brain, with Ben Rein

What does loneliness do to our brains? Neil deGrasse Tyson, Chuck Nice, and Gary O’Reilly sit down with neuroscientist Ben Rein, author of Why Brains Need Friends: The Science of Social Connection, to explore how the loneliness epidemic impacts our minds, bodies, and even our lifespan. What’s the difference between being alone and being lonely? Why can you be surrounded by people and still feel alone? We breaks down the neurobiology behind social connection, how oxytocin, serotonin, and dopamine reward our interactions, and what happens when we’re missing those signals. From rising cortisol levels to chronic inflammation, we learn how prolonged loneliness can actually damage organs and shorten lives. Do extroverts live longer? How much social time is “enough”? We dig into personality, empathy, and why virtual interactions often leave us unsatisfied. Could our brains be losing their ability to read social cues online—and is that fueling the hostility of the internet age? Can we medicate loneliness away? How do drugs like MDMA affect empathy? We get into why oxytocin is nature’s antidepressant, and how our pets might literally make us healthier. We get into research on what makes for good socializing and how loneliness leads to more loneliness. How do we dig ourselves out? Thanks to our Patrons kendrick bell, edthri, Patrick Canada, Robert Reyes, Rob, Link and Zelda, sweetheat223, Austin Liu, k, Brian Crimmins, Dominic Miller, Thomas Hammer, Tanuj Khandelwal, Adam Bukowski, Gavin Jones-Verity, Powell Houser, Paul Westenheffer, Diego Escamilla Quintana, Mark Johnston, Sam Richie, Kate Bornstein, Terry, Roger Craig, Lawrence Sansevere, Paul Medrano, Maaz Gundagi, Ken Dodge, Bob Wilson, Airshipguy, Adam Omelan, Joseph Jones, Athena Conkins, Peter Keller, Keitumetse Tlokana, The Clacken, Kris Fisher, Jonathan, Tamos Memes, Jesse Krist, Stephanie Thorsen, Scanman, Samuel Steffen, TheEvilSensei, Amporn Rabuenam, Danielle, James Gill, D. Jerome Johnson, Paul Seikel, Quentin, Max Gueli, Sascha, Ed Parker, Kevin Kazaryan, Sean Dowd, Steve Lauson, Jeff Franz, skymaster, Nikolas Holloway, Brando Kaminski, CapApolllo, Mario Hill, WayToOReckless, Sven Felske, Gabriel Garus, Rick Lowes, Raul Luces, Bruce A. Hill, Donkey Kong, Villanarei Cosplay, Rion Hallaran, Travéz Pinto, Doni Black, Terrence Romero, Marie Willumsen, Tristan, Кристиан Михайлов, Gabriel Lee, Diana, Mike Neal, Professor Pixel, jkos21, trolows, Mithun Manivannan, JoshB, Kim DeLaquil, R Schultz, Robin Edser, david halliday, James LEwandowski, John Johnston, DJ BeeAre, writerseye, Tomer Dvir, Murph, Dan Burke, Lord Beerus, VIctor Rivas, Melinda, Enrique, Richard Denson, Nate, Jen Carr, Marc-Antoine Robichaud, José Cabral, Alex Osborn, Devyn Fidel, and David Villasmil for supporting us this week. Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction: Ben Rein 03:43 - The Paradox of Loneliness 07:10 - Loneliness in the Brain 13:39 - Long Term Loneliness 17:16 - Do Extroverts Live Longer? 26:47 - Virtual v. Real Interactions 30:41 - The Science of Likeability 33:49 - The Science of Empathy 38:56 - Painkillers, Alcohol, & Empathy 44:59 - MDMA 49:12 - Medication for Loneliness 53:52 - Solving the Epidemic Check out our second channel, @StarTalkPlus Get the NEW StarTalk book, 'To Infinity and Beyond: A Journey of Cosmic Discovery' on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3PL0NFn Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/startalkradio FOLLOW or SUBSCRIBE to StarTalk: Twitter: http://twitter.com/startalkradio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StarTalk Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startalk About StarTalk: Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up! #StarTalk #NeildeGrasseTyson