Social isolation triggers cravings in the brain similar to hunger
HOW DO YOU STUDY CRAVINGS, WHEN THEY ARE SO SUBJECTIVE?
A standard way is to study hunger. You have people fast for much longer than they typically would if they were hungry, then you show them pictures of the food they would like to eat, and you get a craving response in the brain.
Subjectively, people can tell you how they feel. But there is also a small, fine structure, deep in the brain, called the ‘substantia nigra’ which produces dopamine. It seems to be the best measure we have as a source of that
