Introduction

The Neumann-Meier III Polar Station sits near the edge of Antarctica's unforgiving extra-ome ice shelf. During the winter, temperatures can plunge below minus 50 degrees Celsius and winds can climb to more than 100 kilometers per hour. A team of scientists in Germany wanted to see whether the social isolation and environmental monotony marked the brains of people making long, antarctic stays. Feelings of loneliness prompt changes in the brain that further isolate people from social contact.