Why We Seek Interaction with Other People

MRI study in Neuroimage: Social interactions activate reward system

Jülich, 24 July 2014 – Chitchatting in the queue at the bakery, playing games together, or participating in team sports: humans strive to interact with each other and spend time together, even if it does not benefit them directly. Using imaging techniques, Jülich neuroscientists have now established the reason for this. According to their study, social interactions activate the reward system. When interacting with computers, in contrast, this system remains largely inactive. In the past, the mechanisms in the brain had been unclear due to a lack of suitable test procedures. The findings could be of benefit for treating autism, for example.

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