Naomi Eisenberger

Naomi Eisenberger is a Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), specializing in Social and Affective Neuroscience. She holds a Ph.D. from UCLA and leads the Social and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory. Her research focuses on the neural and physiological mechanisms underlying social connection, rejection, loneliness, and their impacts on health. Key interests include the overlap between social and physical pain, the role of social support in stress buffering, and the neurobiological underpinnings of prosocial behavior.

Her work integrates neuroimaging, behavioral experiments, and immunological methods to explore how social experiences influence brain function, immune responses, and mental/physical well-being. Notable contributions include demonstrating that social rejection activates brain regions associated with physical pain and examining how inflammation affects mood and reward processing. Recent studies investigate mindfulness interventions, sex differences in inflammatory responses, and the neural mechanisms of social touch for emotion regulation.

Eisenberger has contributed to transdiagnostic models of mental health, linking social isolation to anxiety and depression through fear learning mechanisms. Her lab also explores the effects of aging on social motivation, sleep, and inflammatory markers. Collaborations span clinical populations (e.g., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder) and community samples to understand universal social needs and their health implications.