Kross, E., Berman, M. G., Mischel, W., Smith, E. E., &Wager, T. D. (2011). Social rejection shares somatosensory representations with physical pain.
How similar are the experiences of social rejection and physical pain? Extant research suggests that a network of brain regions that support the affective but not the sensory components of physical pain underlie both experiences. Here we demonstrate that when rejection is powerfully elicited—by having people who recently experienced an unwanted break-up view a photograph of their ex-partner as they think about being rejected—areas that ...