Behavior

Wired reporter Emily Reynolds writes that MIT neuroscientists have identified the region of the brain that generates a feeling of loneliness. The researchers found that the “DRN, near the back of the brain, hosts a cluster of cells that the team say is responsible for generating increased sociability after periods of isolation.”

In a piece for The Washington Post, Jay Van Bavel and Mina Cikara highlight a new paper co-authored by MIT Professor Rebecca Saxe and Dr. Emile Bruneau that examines public displays of schadenfreude, in which people exhibit pleasure at others’ pain. The researchers found that such behavior is a consequence of basic group dynamics.