The brain reacts to rejection in the same manner as physical pain
Kross et al. (2011) recruited 40 individuals who felt 'intensely rejected' after a the recent dissolution of a romantic relationship. Participants were made to perform two tasks under fMRI scanning: a 'social rejection task' and a 'physical pain task'. The rejection task involved looking at a photograph of their previous romantic partner while performing a visualization task that involved recreating the rejection experience.
The pain task involved exposure to thermal stimulation (burning) on their left forearm. It was found that both tasks displayed similar neural activation patterns on the fMRI scanner. Both tasks were administered separately, to minimize potential 'priming' effects that could have lead to anticipation of physical pain during the social rejection task. Thus the conclusion of the study was that social rejection is associated with physical pain.
Discussion:
Most men in the modern dating world must now face staggering amounts of rejection to even get a few replies or matches. This study may shed some light on what such a sense of overwhelming rejection can feel like.
Quotes:
- We demonstrate the specificity of the secondary somatosensory cortex and dorsal posterior insula activity to physical pain.
- Activation in these regions was highly diagnostic of physical pain, with positive predictive values up to 88%.
- These results give new meaning to the idea that rejection “hurts.”
- They demonstrate that rejection and physical pain are similar not only in that they are both distressing—they share a common somatosensory representation as well.
References:
- Kross E, Berman MG, Mischel W, Smith EE, Wager TD. 2011. Social rejection shares somatosensory representations with physical pain. PNAS. 108(15): 6270-6275. [FullText]