E-Paper
It's confirmed: A broken heart 'really hurts'
Few have avoided the agony of a failed relationship. And, now scientists have confirmed that a broken heart really hurts.
Few have avoided the agony of a failed relationship. And, now scientists have confirmed that a broken heart really hurts.
An international team, led by Ethan Kross of Michigan University, has carried out a study and found that suffering from a broken heart, in fact, "hurts more" than physical pain, the Daily Mail reported.
The study has showed that being dumped by a lover activates brain regions usually associated with processing physical pain, such as searing sensation of being burnt.
In their study, the scientists analysed 40 people who had recently had a romantic break-up. All said the experience left them deeply hurt.
Their brains were scanned as they looked at various pictures. They rated looking at the picture of an ex and being touched with a hot probe as more painful than thinking about a friend or being touched with a cooler probe.
More interestingly, they said that break-up thoughts hurt as much as the hot probe. Analysis of the scans revealed that the same brain regions lit up when processing the two types of pain.
