"In Matthews’ experiments, the most dominant mice — those that win in fights against their cage mates and have priority access to food and other resources — show the strongest reaction to having their loneliness neurons stimulated. At those times, the highest ranking animals search out companionship more fervently than animals on the lowest rungs of the social ladder. These mice also avoid stimulation of the loneliness neurons more avidly than the lower ranking members, suggesting that the dominant mice find it more unpleasant. The lowest ranked mice, in contrast, didn’t seem to mind being alone. Perhaps they enjoyed isolation, being free of their harassers."

New Evidence for the Necessity of Loneliness | Quanta Magazine