Researchers have found that the strength of young people’s brain responses to social rewards influenced their feelings of social satisfaction and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period with limited in-person interactions. Adolescents aged 10 to 17 whose brains are highly sensitive to social rewards felt lonelier when they had fewer in-person and virtual interactions than those whose brains are less sensitive to social rewards.

Researchers have developed a promising new framework for studying the link between social disconnection and poor physical health in people living with serious mental illnesses (SMI). Drawing on published research from animal models and data from the general population, this framework builds on existing social isolation and loneliness models by integrating insights from evolutionary and cognitive theories. This research was supported by the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research and the National Institute of Mental Health.

Long-term nursing home residents with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) who experienced “contextual isolation” were more likely to have pain relative to those who did not experience any contextual isolation.

Deep Neural Network algorithm successfully predicts incident cardiovascular disease in non-Hispanic Black adults, indicating significance of social determinants of health

Black-White residential segregation and cardiovascular mortality rates

The roles of aging and reward sensitivity on auditory and reward networks

ABCD joins the band: the shared musical environment during childhood, language, and executive function

How infant-directed song captures attention

Caregiving as a chronic stressor detrimental to mental health – or not?

Adoption and scaling up of overdose education and naloxone distribution through a “hub with many spokes” model.

Modulating effect of the gut microbiome on the effect of second-hand smoke exposure on behavioral and cognitive performance: a mouse model

Disparities in sleep-wake patterns by labor force status: Population-based findings

Results from "Live Well", a randomized controlled community-based participatory intervention to prevent obesity in new immigrant mother-child dyads

Tracking and characterizing longitudinal change in physical activity behaviors among study participants from different sociodemographic backgrounds

Insights and strategies for improving equity in graduate school admissions: a program review

Using community-based geographical information system (GIS) to recruit older Asian Americans in an Alzheimer's disease study

Progress made but gaps remain: Availability of mental health services at HIV treatment sites

Preventing revictimization among recent survivors of sexual violence

Positive impacts of an adaptive digital health intervention for patients prescribed opioid analgesics

Community concerns about the ethics of molecular HIV surveillance in public health practice

Use of advance care planning video tools to support adolescents and young adults with advanced cancer

The impact of epistemic injustice on patients with intersecting, marginalized identities in a clinical setting