stimulated by rewards like food and love. The lonely subjects displayed far less activity in this region while viewing pleasant pictures, and they also had less brain activity when shown the unpleasant pictures. When non-lonely subjects viewed the unpleasant pictures, they demonstrated activity in the temporoparietal junction, an area of the brain associated with empathy; the lonely subjects had a lesser response [source: University of Chicago]. Social withdrawal is avoiding people and activities one would usually enjoy. For some people, this can progress to a point of social isolation, where people may even want to avoid contact with family and close friends most of the time. They may want to be alone because they feel it is tiring or upsetting to be with other people. Sometimes a cycle can develop where the more time they spend alone, the less they feel like people understand them. When people withdraw themselves from social interaction they tend to stay inside a set place (like a bedroom). See also Loner Solitude References "Case examples of isolation" Hawthorne, G., PhD. (2008). Perceived social isolation in a community sample: Its prevalence and correlates with aspects of peoples' lives. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 43(2), 140-50. doi:https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00127-007-0279-8 "What are the effects of isolation in the mind?" 6 April 2010. HowStuffWorks.com. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/emotions/isolation-effects.htm> 4 October 2016 References Emotional issues