Here's a good reason to get out more and make new friends. New research has found links between social status and specific brain structures and activity.

The findings, which were presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, indicate that position in social hierarchy can influence decision-making, motivation, and physical and mental health.

One study presented cited that dominant rats produce more brain cells and have better cognition than subordinate rats. But when a new leader rat was chosen, this created an unstable social environment which entirely counteracted the positive effects of being dominant.

Another study found that humans in possession of a large friend network and good social skills have certain brain regions that are bigger, better connected to other regions and more developed. It remains unclear which comes first.

A third study involving monkeys focused more on the ways in which our social behavior is influenced by specific regions of our brain associated with anticipation and decision-making. Any disruption to this region would lead to the breakdown of mutual cooperation between the primates.

Researchers believe that "This information could lead to new treatments [but] it also calls on us to evaluate how we construct social hierarchies — whether in the workplace or school — and their impacts on human well-being."

[Society for Neuroscience]