HOW BRAINS MAKE FRIENDS

From your morning coffee order, to weaving through passengers on the train, riding in a packed elevator, attending a happy hour with colleagues, or relaxing on the couch with family, every day is filled with social interactions that nurture and support your brain's health.

Some of these interactions may seem mundane, but they collectively make up the "social diet" that you feed your brain, influencing your well-being and shaping the substance of your life. Beneath our conscious awareness, these social experiences are modulating some of our most fundamental biological processes, adjusting our neurochemistry in ways that influence our emotions, color our experiences, and can even lengthen our lives. In an age of isolation, HOW BRAINS MAKE FRIENDS is a neuroscience-backed guide to social interactions, drawing insights from the world of science to help you understand the biology behind your relationships, reconsider the value of companionship, and build healthier, happier, and more connected lives. Ben Rein, PhD is a neuroscientist at Stanford University and has spent over a decade studying the neuroscience of social interactions. Dr. Rein has published 17 peer-reviewed scientific papers in distinguished journals such as Molecular Psychiatry, Trends in Neurosciences and Cell. Outside of the lab, Dr. Rein educates an audience of more than 900,000 social media followers about neuroscience.