Researchers scanned the brains of a group of strangers before anyone had spoken, and the hidden pattern that predicted who would still be close friends eight months later was not shared hobbies or hometowns

In the study, researchers scanned the brains of strangers before they even met, while they watched the same set of video clips. Eight months of real social life used as the measuring stickSimilarities in neural responses to movie clips, acquired before participants met one another, predicted proximity in a friendship network eight months later. It was a mapped social network of real, mutually confirmed friendships, and the brain scans collected before anyone had met predicted who ended up inside it. It was not shared demographics, shared values, or shared neighborhoods that predicted lasting friendship. At a time when nearly half of Americans say leisure and real social connection have dried up, the science suggests the brain may already know who belongs in your life.