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Humans, like all monkeys and apes, have an intense desire to be social. The human social world, however, is extraordinarily complex, depends on sophisticated cognitive and neural processing, and is easily destabilized, with dramatic consequences for our mental and physical health. To show why, I first summarize descriptive aspects of human friendships and what they do for us, then discuss the cognitive and neurobiological processes that underpin them. I then summarize the growing body of evidence suggesting that our mental as well as our physical health and wellbeing are best predicted by the number and quality of close friend/family relationships we have, with five being the optimal number. Finally, I review neurobiological evidence that both number of friends and loneliness itself are correlated with the volume of certain key brain regions associated with the default mode neural network and its associated gray-matter processing units.

Original publication

DOI

10.1111/nyas.15309

Type

Journal article

Journal

Ann N Y Acad Sci

Publication Date

03/2025

Volume

1545

Pages

52 - 65

Keywords

Dunbar's Number, default mode neural network, endorphins, friendship, loneliness, Humans, Loneliness, Friends, Brain, Interpersonal Relations, Cognition, Mental Health, Health Status