Having lesions in a part of the brain known as the amygdala , which is involved in emotions and social information processing, could be linked with having no concept of personal space, according to a recent report in Nature Neuroscience . A 42-year-old woman with amygdala damage was comfortable at interacting with the experimenter at any distance, including “nose-to-nose with direct eye contact,” a striking difference to healthy individuals who show amygdala activation when in close proximity to others, according to California Institute of Technology researchers. What does this mean about those individuals we all know who prefer to stand closer to us than we feel comfortable, à la the “close talker” in the “Seinfeld” video? Daniel Kennedy , the first author of the study, tells us in an email that “it’s premature to check ‘close talkers’ for any type of brain damage.” Someone’s preferred distance in interaction is influenced by

other factors, like culture, past experience or lack of awareness or ability to pick up social cues. For instance, another study found that abused children preferred larger distances from adults than non-abused children, according to Kennedy. “The take-home message is that the amygdala has a very important role in face-to-face social interaction,” said Kennedy. “It serves to maintain distance between oneself and others. When looking at its role in maintaining personal space together with its role in picking up on social signals, especially negative ones, it seems that the amygdala serves to maintain a protective barrier from others.” The next steps in their research are to investigate how other brain regions interact with the amygdala to affect one’s personal space, as well as how individuals with autism understand personal space, given findings of amygdala dysfunction in the disorder, said Kennedy.

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Brain Scans for Close Talkers?