How is Social Connection Represented in the Brain?
Columbia University · with National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) · NCT04577911
Opens the official ClinicalTrials.gov record, with the study team’s contacts. Bored Studies doesn’t enroll anyone.
Key facts
- Compensation
- Not posted. Ask the study team before screening.
- Who can join
- Ages 18–65 · All sexes
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Study type
- Observational
- Target enrollment
- 248
- US sites recruiting
- 1
- Study start
- April 1, 2021
- Record last updated
- December 16, 2025
Status re-checked against ClinicalTrials.gov within the last 12 hours.
What the study is about
Nearly half of the U.S. population sometimes or always experiences loneliness, which is alarming given that loneliness confers risk for negative mental and physical health outcomes. Extensive research suggests loneliness is characterized by subjective isolation: many lonely individuals maintain a number of relationships but still report feeling lonely. The goal of this proposal is to use functional magnetic resonance imaging to reveal how the brain represents our subjective connection to and isolation from other people, which will ultimately inform optimal ways to intervene to reduce loneliness.
Being studied: Basic Science Experiment
Conditions: Loneliness
Eligibility criteria
Copied from the official record. The study team makes the final decision at screening.
Show full criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- safe for MRI scanning
- not taking psychiatric medication
Exclusion Criteria
- not safe for MRI scanning
- taking psychiatric medication
Recruiting US locations
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
New York, NY 10032
Site contact: Meghan L Meyer, PhD · 650-521-1701
Study contacts (from the official record)
- Meghan L Meyer, PhD · 650-521-1701 · mlm2378@columbia.edu
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