A recent American study indicates that,when faced with social rejection, the brain has a means to alleviate the pain it causes us. As published inMolecular Psychiatryscientists at the University of Michigan School of Medicine, thebrain’s natural painkiller systemIt not only responds to physical pain in the body, as has already been shown, but also to social rejection.
Combining the use of brain scans capable of tracking the release of chemical compounds in the brain with a model of social rejection based on Internet dating, scientists discovered that natural opioids are released in the human brain during situations of social distress. , isolation and rejection.
The study involved eighteen adults who were asked to look at photographs and fictitious personal profiles of hundreds of people. Each of the participants selected some profiles of those who might be more romantically interested, a situation similar to online dating.
But then, as they were placed on a PET scanner to take images of their brains, they were told that the individuals they found the most attractive and interesting were not reciprocally interested. Neuroimaging during that time revealed the release of opioids. Theeffect was greatest in brain regions called the central striatum, the amygdala, the middle thalamus, and the central gray matter, areas also known for their activation in physical pain. On the other hand, the greater the release of opioids during social rejection in another area of the brain called the anterior cingulate cortex, the lower the moodiness that the participants showed when they received the news that they had been rejected.
Although the researchers had ensured that the participants knew that the profiles for “dating” were not real, and therefore that the “rejection” was not real either, the simulated social rejection was enough to cause an emotional response and an opioid response.
The researchers also analyzed what happened when the participants were told that someone in whom they had expressed interest expressed interest in them, that is, social acceptance. In that case, some brain regions also had more opioid release. “It’s known thatthe opioid system plays a role in reducing pain and promoting pleasure, and our study shows that this also happens in the social context“said David T. Hsu, co-author of the work.
People with high scores on a personality trait calledresilience, understood as the human ability to flexibly assume and overcome extreme situations, showed higher levels of activation of natural painkillers, especially in the tonsil, a region of the brain involved in emotional processing. In contrast, “it is possible that people with depression or social anxiety are less able to release opioids during times of social stress and therefore do not recover as quickly or fully from a negative social experience,” Hsu suggested.
