To the brain, getting burned, getting dumped feel the same

[seabeyond]

In a new study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers have found that the same brain networks that are activated when you're burned by hot coffee also light up when you think about a lover who has spurned you.

In other words, the brain doesn't appear to firmly distinguish between physical pain and intense emotional pain. Heartache and painful breakups are "more than just metaphors," says Ethan Kross, Ph.D., the lead researcher and an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor.

*

"What's exciting about these findings," he says, "is that they outline the direct way in which emotional experiences can be linked to the body."

Kross and his colleagues recruited 21 women and 19 men who had no history of chronic pain or mental illness but who had all been dumped by a romantic partner within the previous six months. The volunteers underwent fMRI scans -- which measure brain activity by tracking changes in blood flow -- during two painful tasks.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/03/28/burn.heartbreak.same.to.brain/index.html?hpt=C2

______________________________

interesting. i have never been dumped or had relationship pain, but interesting.

[babydollhead]

1. the body and mind are one

[SpiralHawk]

2. "How's that achey breaky burny thing working out for you?" - Sarah Pale Horse (R)

"Vote Republicon and we's can guaran-damn-tee you lot's more. Bwaaa ha ha ha ha. Sneer."

- Sarah Pale Horse (R)

[Snoutport]

3. i could have told you that!

but it is nice to have some science to back it up! my last break up huuuuuuuuuuuuuuurt!!!

[barbtries]

4. i have

and even worse, i've lost a child. i could have told them that.

[undeterred]

7. ...

:hug:

[barbtries]

8. thank you

:hug:

[buddysmellgood]

5. I guess that's why people often drink. Ibuprofen doesn't cut it.

[bread_and_roses]

6. That the same circuits are activated does NOT mean they "feel the same"

and yes, of course "the mind and body are one" and emotional pain "hurts." But anyone who has actually experienced both knows they are NOT "the same." I take particular exception to this notion of "the same" when applied to emotional vs physical abuse of children - no, it is not "the same." Which is NOT to say that emotional abuse does not leave psychological scars, is not painful and damaging, does not have life-long consequences, etc. But it is not "worse than" being burned with a hot iron or being beaten unconscious. Ask a child with cigarette burns all over chest and arms and back which hurts worse.

[barbtries]

9. physical abuse

is worse. but the psychological abuse is part and parcel of that - how could someone who purportedly love you do such a thing to you? so, physical abuse will always have the psychological part attached - double whammy.

[Javaman]

10. Next time I get emotionally hurt, I'll go smash my thumb with a hammer!

:rofl: