Don’t come any closer!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
People with psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, tend to need more personal space. Why?
Enter, Louis Vinke and team at Massachusetts General Hospital. They recruited healthy adults and participants diagnosed with schizophrenia. While participants watched a video of a neutral face gradually approaching, their brain activity was measured.
Subjects with schizophrenia showed little change in the brain region that registers external stimuli. The researchers believe schizophrenia causes consistent overactivity there. That means, it’s already on high alert when someone is far away. So, they keep their distance!
Understanding why those with psychiatric disorders stay away, could bring us closer together… metaphorically speaking…
Anyone want a hug? Just me? Ok…
Reference: Vinke, L. N., Avanaki, M., Jeffrey, C., Harikumar, A., Mow, J. L., Tootell, R. B. H., DeTore, N. R., & Holt, D. J. (2025). Neural correlates of personal space regulation in psychosis: Role of the inferior parietal cortex. Molecular Psychiatry, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-025-02906-4