Neuroscience
"From the Archives", first published in the Digest 10.11.03.
When rock group REM sing "everybody hurts sometimes" they are, of course, referring to the inevitability of emotional anguish rather than our shared need to occasionally reach for the paracetemol. But forget poetic licence, new research suggests this tendency to express emotional angst in terms of physical pain is scientifically justified.
Naomi Eisenberger (pictured) and colleagues scanned the brains of 13 undergraduates while they each played 'virtual' catch with two other people. Participants believed cartoon images represented the other players but in fact the whole procedure was run by a computer programme. In the "explicit rejection" condition, the imaginary players appeared to deliberately ignore the participant, passing the ball only between themselves.
Eisenberger found activity in the anterior cingulate cortex - previously linked to the experience of physical pain - was increased during the "rejection condition" and correlated with participants' self-reported feelings of exclusion. Meanwhile, activity in the right ventral prefrontal cortex - previously associated with the regulation of physical pain - was correlated with reduced distress following rejection. The authors concluded that "social pain is analogous to physical pain, alerting us when we have sustained injury to our social connections".
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Eisenberger, N.I., Lieberman, M.D. & Williams, K.D. (2003). Does rejection hurt? An fMRI study of social exclusion. Science, 290-292.
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
Link to full-text.
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- Hypnosis And Pain Control
Now back to our irregularly scheduled neuroscience programming! It's been so long since The Neurocritic began a plodding series on hypnosis (June 6 to be exact), that the in press articles are now in print in the Journal of Physiology (Paris). The...
Neuroscience
The 'pain' of rejection
"From the Archives", first published in the Digest 10.11.03.When rock group REM sing "everybody hurts sometimes" they are, of course, referring to the inevitability of emotional anguish rather than our shared need to occasionally reach for the paracetemol. But forget poetic licence, new research suggests this tendency to express emotional angst in terms of physical pain is scientifically justified.
Naomi Eisenberger (pictured) and colleagues scanned the brains of 13 undergraduates while they each played 'virtual' catch with two other people. Participants believed cartoon images represented the other players but in fact the whole procedure was run by a computer programme. In the "explicit rejection" condition, the imaginary players appeared to deliberately ignore the participant, passing the ball only between themselves.
Eisenberger found activity in the anterior cingulate cortex - previously linked to the experience of physical pain - was increased during the "rejection condition" and correlated with participants' self-reported feelings of exclusion. Meanwhile, activity in the right ventral prefrontal cortex - previously associated with the regulation of physical pain - was correlated with reduced distress following rejection. The authors concluded that "social pain is analogous to physical pain, alerting us when we have sustained injury to our social connections".
--
Eisenberger, N.I., Lieberman, M.D. & Williams, K.D. (2003). Does rejection hurt? An fMRI study of social exclusion. Science, 290-292.
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
Link to full-text.
- The Empathic Powers Of Those Who Can't Feel Pain
A popular account for how we empathise with other people's physical pain involves the idea that we perform a mental simulation of their suffering, using the pain pathways of our own brain. Support for this comes from research showing that when I see...
- Brain Dread
It makes time slow down when you want it to go fast, and it keeps turning your mind back to the very thing you want to forget – dread is a most unpleasant emotion. Now Gregory Berns (pictured) and colleagues at Emory University School of Medicine think...
- Tattooing As Self-harm?
"From the Archives", first published in the Digest 05.01.04. Psychologists in America have documented what they believe to be the first report of tattooing used as a form of emotional self-regulation. Michael Anderson (Wright State University, USA) and...
- Suffering From The Pain Of Social Rejection? Feel Better With Tylenol®
It's not just for headaches anymore! The active ingredient in TYLENOL® (acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol) has been shown to ease the pain of social rejection. Wouldn't it be great if you could pop an over-the-counter medication to lessen...
- Hypnosis And Pain Control
Now back to our irregularly scheduled neuroscience programming! It's been so long since The Neurocritic began a plodding series on hypnosis (June 6 to be exact), that the in press articles are now in print in the Journal of Physiology (Paris). The...