Changes in Our Brain Affect Social Behavior as We Age

(Posted on Monday, June 30, 2025)

As we get older, our social circles tend to get smaller. Friends move away, our priorities shift to work and family, and our social life often takes a backseat. It’s not just that life gets busier. Changes in the brain make socializing feel less rewarding. A new German study found that lower sociability may be linked to shifts in how the brain is connected as we age. Neural networks involved in memory and self-awareness become weaker, while those that promote emotional stress are more active.

Connection Matters

Our brains are wired to connect and interact with others. From the moment we are born, human connection plays a vital role in how we learn and grow. Social interaction lights up parts of the brain linked to reward, empathy, and emotion regulation. When you spend time with friends, your brain releases dopamine and oxytocin, which make you feel happy and connected. Your cortisol levels also drop, lowering stress and making you feel more relaxed.

We are not meant to go through life alone. Isolation takes a toll on your mental and physical health. Loneliness can lead to increased feelings of anxiety and depression. Over time, the emotional weight raises cortisol levels throughout the body. This can contribute to increased inflammation, blood pressure, and risk of heart disease. Chronic loneliness is as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

The older you get, the harder it seems to maintain social relationships. One in three older adults experiences loneliness and social isolation. Life changes, like retirement, health issues, or losing a partner, can make it more difficult to stay connected. Old routines fall away, and it takes more effort to keep friendships going or form new ones. Now, this study suggests that changes in the brain as we age may be what drives this decline in sociability.

What This New Study Reveals About the Aging Brain and Sociability

Nearly 200 adults participated in this study. They each completed an emotional intelligence questionnaire designed to measure sociability. This six-question test considers how socially aware you are, how well you manage emotions, how effectively you communicate, and how comfortable you feel in social situations.

The participants then underwent MRI brain imaging. Lower sociability scores among older adults correlated with two major shifts in how different brain regions communicate with each other. Connections between neurons involved in memory, attention, and self-awareness seem to weaken with age. This was termed the age-negative network. It includes frontoparietal regions located on the top of the brain that form the executive control center. As these connections fade, it may become harder to stay mentally sharp, engage in conversations, and feel confident in social settings.

At the same time, another network actually becomes stronger. Aging enhances connections between somatosensory and motor regions of the brain, which process bodily sensations and movement. This network often activates during moments of social stress, like when you are feeling excluded or judged. As this age-positive network strengthens, social interaction may start to feel more draining or overwhelming, possibly leading people to withdraw even if they want connection.

What We Still Don’t Know

These findings offer important clues, but they may not tell us the full story. For one, the majority of participants were young adults. Brain changes that occur later in life, when cognitive shifts become more pronounced, may not have been fully captured. Also, the study only included European participants, which raises questions about generalizability. Social behavior is deeply shaped by culture. Norms around communication and emotional expression can vary widely. Changes in sociability and brain connectivity may look different in non-European or more collectivist societies.

It is also important to consider how sociability was assessed during this study. Self-reported questionnaires reflect how people perceive their social lives, which may not always align with their actual behavior. People may under-report or over-report based on mood, memory, or personal bias. Other variables, such as mental health and personality traits, can also influence sociability, which were not directly assessed in this study. Since personality can shift subtly with age, it is possible that these changes played a role in how sociability was reported and experienced.

Conclusion

Getting older doesn’t have to mean that your social life is over. While life circumstances and changes in the brain can make socializing more challenging, you should not give up on building meaningful connections. It just takes a little more effort to rekindle old friendships, join community groups, and explore new hobbies. Staying socially active is one of the most effective ways to keep your mind and body healthy.