Cited by 352Sleep and Wakefulness ResearchSleep and related disordersSleep and Work-Related Fatigue

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 21 of the 21 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Sleep loss causes social withdrawal and loneliness

Open access
Ben Simon, Eti, Walker, Matthew P.·2018·Nature Communications

Abstract

Loneliness and social isolation markedly increase mortality risk, and are linked to numerous mental and physical comorbidities, including sleep disruption. But does sleep loss causally trigger loneliness? Here, we demonstrate that a lack of sleep leads to a neural and behavioral phenotype of social withdrawal and loneliness; one that can be perceived by other members of society, and reciprocally, makes those societal members lonelier in return. We propose a model in which sleep loss instigates a propagating, self-reinforcing cycle of social separation and withdrawal.

Overview

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1038/s41467-018-05377-0

Cites

21 of 21 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Verification

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Citations

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Show all 21 references

Research works printed but not linked: 47

  1. Eisenberger, N. I., Taylor, S. E., Gable, S. L., Hilmert, C. J. & Lieberman, M. D. Neural pathways link social support to attenuated neuroendocrine stress responses. Neuroimage 35, 1601–1612 (2007). · DOI · Paper page
  2. Wilson, R. S. et al. Loneliness and risk of alzheimer disease. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 64, 234–240 (2007). · DOI · Paper page
  3. Lau, S. & Gruen, G. E. The social stigma of loneliness: effect of target person’s and perceiver’s sex. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 18, 182–189 (1992). · DOI
  4. Lawrence, E. W. & John, A. B. Keeping one’s distance: the influence of spatial distance cues on affect and evaluation. Psychol. Sci. 19, 302–308 (2008). · DOI
  5. Renshaw, P. D. & Brown, P. J. Loneliness in middle childhood: concurrent and longitudinal predictors. Child Dev. 64, 1271–1284 (1993). · DOI
  6. Cheek, J. M. & Buss, A. H. Shyness and sociability. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 41, 330 (1981). · DOI
  7. Nurmi, J.-E. & Salmela-Aro, K. Social strategies and loneliness: a prospective study. Pers. Individ. Dif. 23, 205–215 (1997). · DOI
  8. Kaushal, N., Nair, D., Gozal, D. & Ramesh, V. Socially isolated mice exhibit a blunted homeostatic sleep response to acute sleep deprivation compared to socially paired mice. Brain Res. 1454, 65–79 (2012). · DOI
  9. Tavernier, R. & Willoughby, T. Bidirectional associations between sleep (quality and duration) and psychosocial functioning across the university years. Dev. Psychol. 50, 674 (2014). · DOI
  10. Cacioppo, J. T. et al. Do lonely days invade the nights? Potential social modulation of sleep efficiency. Psychol. Sci. 13, 384–387 (2002). · DOI · Paper page
  11. Smith, S. S., Kozak, N. & Sullivan, K. A. An investigation of the relationship between subjective sleep quality, loneliness and mood in an Australian sample: can daily routine explain the links? Int. J. Soc. Psychiatry 58, 166–171 (2012). · DOI
  12. Carney, C. E., Edinger, J. D., Meyer, B., Lindman, L. & Istre, T. Daily activities and sleep quality in college students. Chronobiol. Int. 23, 623–637 (2006). · DOI
  13. Perry, A., Nichiporuk, N. & Knight, R. T. Where does one stand: a biological account of preferred interpersonal distance. Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci. 11, 317–326, https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsv115 (2016). · DOI
  14. Holt, D. J. et al. Abnormalities in personal space and parietal–frontal function in schizophrenia. NeuroImage Clin. 9, 233–243 (2015). · DOI
  15. Mahon, N. E. Loneliness and sleep during adolescence. Percept. Mot. Skills 78, 227–231 (1994). · DOI · Paper page
  16. Friedman, E. M. et al. Social relationships, sleep quality, and interleukin-6 in aging women. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 102, 18757–18762 (2005). · DOI · Paper page
  17. Kurina, L. M. et al. Loneliness is associated with sleep fragmentation in a communal society. Sleep 34, 1519–1526 (2011). · DOI
  18. Bremmer, F. et al. Polymodal motion processing in posterior parietal and premotor cortex: a human fMRI study strongly implies equivalencies between humans and monkeys. Neuron 29, 287–296 (2001). · DOI · Paper page
  19. Van Overwalle, F. & Baetens, K. Understanding others’ actions and goals by mirror and mentalizing systems: a meta-analysis. Neuroimage 48, 564–584 (2009). · DOI · Paper page
  20. Saxe, R., Carey, S. & Kanwisher, N. Understanding other minds: linking developmental psychology and functional neuroimaging. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 55, 87–124 (2004). · DOI · Paper page
  21. Frith, C. D. & Frith, U. Interacting minds--a biological basis. Science 286, 1692–1695 (1999). · DOI · Paper page
  22. Cacioppo, J. T., Norris, C. J., Decety, J., Monteleone, G. & Nusbaum, H. In the eye of the beholder: individual differences in perceived social isolation predict regional brain activation to social stimuli. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 21, 83–92 (2009). · DOI · Paper page
  23. Kana, R. K. et al. Aberrant functioning of the theory-of-mind network in children and adolescents with autism. Mol. Autism 6, 59 (2015). · DOI
  24. Walter, H. et al. Dysfunction of the social brain in schizophrenia is modulated by intention type: an fMRI study. Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci. 4, 166–176 (2009). · DOI
  25. Candini, M. et al. Personal space regulation in childhood autism: effects of social interaction and person’s perspective. Autism Res. 10, 144–154 (2017). · DOI
  26. Adam, E. K., Hawkley, L. C., Kudielka, B. M. & Cacioppo, J. T. Day-to-day dynamics of experience–cortisol associations in a population-based sample of older adults. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 103, 17058–17063 (2006). · DOI · Paper page
  27. Cacioppo, J. T., Fowler, J. H. & Christakis, N. A. Alone in the crowd: The structure and spread of loneliness in a large social network. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 97, 977 (2009). · DOI
  28. Teneggi, C., Canzoneri, E., di Pellegrino, G. & Serino, A. Social modulation of peripersonal space boundaries. Curr. Biol. 23, 406–411 (2013). · DOI · Paper page
  29. Pinquart, M. & Sörensen, S. Risk Factors for Loneliness in Adulthood and Old Age--A Meta-analysis. In S. P. Shohov (Ed.), Advances in psychology research, vol. 19, pp. 111–143. Hauppauge, NY, US: Nova Science Publishers. (2003).
  30. Mander, B. A., Winer, J. R. & Walker, M. P. Sleep and human aging. Neuron 94, 19–36 (2017). · DOI
  31. Hawkley, L. C. & Cacioppo, J. T. Aging and loneliness: downhill quickly? Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. 16, 187–191 (2007). · DOI · Paper page
  32. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Unhealthy sleep-related behaviors--12 States, 2009. MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. 60, 233–238 (2011).
  33. McGlinchey, E. L. et al. The effect of sleep deprivation on vocal expression of emotion in adolescents and adults. Sleep 34, 1233–1241 (2011). · DOI
  34. Kushida, C. A. et al. Comparison of actigraphic, polysomnographic, and subjective assessment of sleep parameters in sleep-disordered patients. Sleep Med. 2, 389–396 (2001). · DOI
  35. Ohayon, M. et al. National Sleep Foundation’s sleep quality recommendations: first report. Sleep Health 3, 6–19 (2017). · DOI · Paper page
  36. Gabay, A. S., Radua, J., Kempton, M. J. & Mehta, M. A. The ultimatum game and the brain: a meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies. Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev. 47, 549–558 (2014). · DOI
  37. Fehr, E. & Camerer, C. F. Social neuroeconomics: the neural circuitry of social preferences. Trends Cogn. Sci. 11, 419–427 (2007). · DOI · Paper page
  38. Mazaika, P. K., Hoeft, F., Glover, G. H. & Reiss, A. L. Methods and software for fMRI analysis of clinical subjects. Neuroimage 47, S58 (2009). · DOI
  39. Behzadi, Y., Restom, K., Liau, J. & Liu, T. T. A component based noise correction method (CompCor) for BOLD and perfusion based fMRI. Neuroimage 37, 90–101 (2007). · DOI · Paper page
  40. Friston, K. J. et al. Statistical parametric maps in functional imaging: a general linear approach. Hum. Brain Mapp. 2, 189–210 (1994). · DOI · Paper page
  41. van Veluw, S. J. & Chance, S. A. Differentiating between self and others: an ALE meta-analysis of fMRI studies of self-recognition and theory of mind. Brain Imaging Behav. 8, 24–38 (2014). · DOI
  42. Poldrack, R. A. & Mumford, J. A. Independence in ROI analysis: where is the voodoo? Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci. 4, 208–213 (2009). · DOI
  43. Lieberman, M. D. & Cunningham, W. A. Type I and Type II error concerns in fMRI research: re-balancing the scale. Soc. Cogn. Affect. Neurosci. 4, 423–428 (2009). · DOI · Paper page
  44. Segrin, C. Interpersonal communication problems associated with depression and loneliness. In P. A. Andersen, L. K. Guerrero, (eds), Handbook of Communication and Emotion, PP. 215–242 (Academic Press, Elsevier, 1996). · DOI
  45. Krause, A. J. et al. The sleep-deprived human brain. Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 18, 404 (2017). · DOI · Paper page
  46. Thompson, E. R. Development and validation of an internationally reliable short-form of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). J. Cross Cult. Psychol. 38, 227–242 (2007). · DOI · Paper page
  47. Ohayon, M. M., Carskadon, M. A., Guilleminault, C. & Vitiello, M. V. Meta-analysis of quantitative sleep parameters from childhood to old age in healthy individuals: developing normative sleep values across the human lifespan. Sleep 27, 1255–1273 (2004). · DOI · Paper page

Cited by

Sorted by citations

See all 352

Metadata

Authors
Ben Simon, E., & Walker, M. P.
Affiliations
University of California, Berkeley (US)
Corresponding author
Walker, Matthew P.
Venue
Nature Communications
Published
2018-08-14
Volume
9
Issue
1
Pages
3146-3146
ISSN
2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2887297302
Cited by
352
References
21
Citations by year
2026: 44 · 2025: 59 · 2024: 65 · 2023: 45 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 37 · 2020: 34 · 2019: 19 · 2018: 4
FWCI
12.41
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • ISEF Foundation
  • Iran Science Elites Federation
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute on Aging (RF1AG054019, R01AG031164)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH093537)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Sleep and Wakefulness Research
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and related disorders
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Sleep and Work-Related Fatigue
Keywords
sleep deprivation, loneliness, social withdrawal, social isolation, sleep disruption, social feedback, self-reinforcing cycles, social behavior, mortality risk
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Behavior, Female, Humans, Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders, Loneliness, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Sleep Deprivation, Social Isolation, Young Adult

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review