TheRedArchive

~ archived since 2018 ~

Can your brain tell the difference between heartbreak and heart attack?

Eric Barker
June 6, 2011

Via CNN:

Science has finally confirmed what anyone who’s ever been in love already knows: Heartbreak really does hurt.

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.

The study, which was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, illuminates the role that feelings of rejection and other emotional trauma can play in the development of chronic pain disorders such as fibromyalgia, Kross says. And, he adds, it raises interesting questions about whether treating physical pain can help to relieve emotional pain, and vice versa.

“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.”

TheRedArchive is an archive of Red Pill content, including various subreddits and blogs. This post has been archived from the blog bakadesuyo.

bakadesuyo archive

Download the post

Want to save the post for offline use on your device? Choose one of the download options below:

Post Information
Title Can your brain tell the difference between heartbreak and heart attack?
Author Eric Barker
Date June 6, 2011 5:53 PM UTC (12 years ago)
Blog bakadesuyo
Archive Link https://theredarchive.com/blog/bakadesuyo/can-your-brain-tell-the-difference-between.15713
https://theredarchive.com/blog/15713
Original Link https://www.bakadesuyo.com/2011/06/can-your-brain-tell-the-difference-between-he/
You can kill a man, but you can't kill an idea.

© TheRedArchive 2024. All rights reserved.
created by /u/dream-hunter