Biology subjects

Zajner, C.

Publications and source records attributed to Zajner, C..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2021

Home alone: A population neuroscience investigation of brain morphology substrates

As a social species, ready exchange with peers is a pivotal asset - our "social capital". Yet, single-person households have come to pervade metropolitan cities worldwide, with unknown consequences in the long run. Here, we systematically explore the morphological manifestations associated with singular living in [~]40,000 UK Biobank participants. The uncovered population-level signature spotlights the highly associative default mode network, in addition to findings such as in the amygdala central, cortical and corticoamygdaloid nuclei groups, as well as the hippocampal fimbria and dentate gyrus. Sex-stratified analyses revealed male-specific neural substrates, including somatomotor, saliency and visual systems, while female-specific neural substrates centred on the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. In line with our demographic profiling results, the discovered neural imprint of living alone is potentially linked to alcohol and tobacco consumption, anxiety, sleep quality as well as daily TV watching. The secular trend for solitary living will require new answers from public-health decision makers.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2021

Subjective social isolation is linked to subregional alterations in hippocampus-default network co-variation

Social interaction complexity makes humans unique. But in times of social deprivation this strength risks to expose important vulnerabilities. Human social neuroscience studies have placed a premium on the default network (DN). In contrast, hippocampus (HC) subfields have been intensely studied in rodents and monkeys. To bridge these two literatures, we here quantified how DN subregions systematically co-vary with specific HC subfields in the context of subjective social isolation (i.e., loneliness). By co-decomposition using structural brain scans of [~]40,000 UK Biobank participants, loneliness was specially linked to midline subregions in the uncovered DN patterns. These association cortex signatures coincided with concomitant HC patterns implicating especially CA1 and molecular layer. These patterns also showed a strong affiliation with the fornix white-matter tract and the nucleus accumbens. In addition, separable signatures of structural HC-DN co-variation had distinct associations with the genetic predisposition for loneliness at the population level.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2021

Lacking social support is associated with structural divergences in hippocampus-default network co-variation patterns

Elaborate social interaction is a pivotal asset of the human species. The complexity of peoples social lives may constitute the dominating factor in the vibrancy of many individuals environment. The neural substrates linked to social cognition thus appear especially susceptible when people endure periods of social isolation: here, we zoom in on the systematic inter-relationships between two such neural substrates, the allocortical hippocampus (HC) and the neocortical default network (DN). Previous human social neuroscience studies have focused on the DN, while HC subfields have been studied in most detail in rodents and monkeys. To bring into contact these two separate research streams, we directly quantified how DN subregions are coherently co-expressed with specific HC subfields in the context of social isolation. A two-pronged decomposition of structural brain scans from [~]40,000 UK Biobank participants linked lack of social support to mostly lateral subregions in the DN patterns. This lateral DN association co-occurred with HC patterns that implicated especially subiculum, presubiculum, CA2, CA3, and dentate gyrus. Overall, the subregion divergences within spatially overlapping signatures of HC-DN co-variation followed a clear segregation divide into the left and right brain hemispheres. Separable regimes of structural HC-DN co-variation also showed distinct associations with the genetic predisposition for lacking social support at the population level.

neuroscience↗