You'
re in the midst of a breakup and feel like a different
person. You find yourself spending a lot of time longing for your ex, constantly checking her
Facebook updates, and wondering what went wrong. This shift in patterns of thought and behavior
may be caused by neural changes that occur after a breakup.
Neuroimaging studies have found that being rejected, even by a stranger, activates many of the same regions in the brain as when experiencing physical pain. In one
study, biological anthropologist Helen Fisher of Rutgers University recruited brave participants who held still in a functional MRI scanner while they looked at pictures of the
person who had recently dumped them. These participants exhibited increased brain activity in several regions associated with reward, motivation, addiction and obsessive-compulsive disorder, which helps to explain why you might struggle to let
go after a romantic relationship ends.
