Here's Why

Rejection really hurts

ABC's Catalyst reports http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s1195656.htm a story about how the pain of a broken heart is felt in the same region of the brain, the anterior cingulate cortex, as physical pain. In the evolution of humans as social animals, rejection from the group can mean life or death, or at least affect your ability to have offspring and your status. Fortunately, the researchers also found the brain's mechanism to relieve the pain of rejection in the right ventral prefrontal cortex, over the eyebrow. This region of the brain is exercised when you describe your distress either in writing or in conversation. So rejection genuinely, physically hurts, and talking to friends and writing about your experience really helps to turn down the pain.

About the author: Ian Woolf lives in Sydney, has a degree in Applied Science, worked as a solar astronomer, software engineer, systems programmer, webmaster, research assistant, Cisco CCNA tutor, Physics laboratory demonstrator, Computational Theory lecturer, and subject coordinator; while changing his career to freelance writing and broadcasting. Listen to Ian on the Diffusion radio science show on radio 2SER 107.3FM Monday at 6:30pm in Sydney or streaming audio on www.2ser.com, or listen to the Diffusion podcasts. You should follow me on twitter, here

Posted by iwoolf at September 17, 2004 3:39 PM | TrackBack