Your Brain On... Friendship
About this episode
The episode explores the impact of friendship and social connection on mental and physical health with neuroscientist Dr. Ben Rein.
We're more connected than ever, yet, we've never been lonelier. We sit down with neuroscientist Dr. Ben Rein, author of Why Brains Need Friends, to look at what isolation does to the brain and body, why we badly underestimate our own social skills, and how to build real connection back into ordinary life. The conversation opens 45,000 years ago, with a healed bone that points to one of the earliest signs of human caregiving. From there it moves to the present: why "rejection hurts because it used to kill," how chronic loneliness raises cortisol and inflammation, and why regular social connection lowers the risk of dementia, heart disease, diabetes, anxiety, and depression. In this episode: The 45,000-year-old skeleton (Shanidar 1) that points to the origins of human caregiving and friendship Why "rejection hurts because it used to kill," and how that ancient circuitry still runs in the modern brain What chronic loneliness does to cortisol, inflammation, and long-term disease risk The research on solitary confinement and why isolation tracks with higher mortality How regular social connection lowers the risk of dementia, heart disease, diabetes, anxiety, and depression The…
People in this episode
Hosts: Dr. Ayesha Sherzai, Dr. Dean Sherzai
Guest: Dr. Ben Rein
Topics covered
- friendship
- loneliness
- social connection
- mental health
- neuroscience
- caregiving
- disease risk
Keywords
- social skills
- chronic loneliness
- cortisol
- inflammation
- dementia
- heart disease
- anxiety
- depression
- social diet
- digital interaction
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Why Brains Need Friends
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