Social Rejection

How does the Brain react to social rejection? 

Studies have shown that the brain processes rejection much as it processes physical pain. Studies at the University of Michigan Medical School revealed that the brain attempts to ease the pain of social rejection in the same way it deals with pain caused by physical injury. The brain pathways activated by physical and social pain overlap somewhat. Signals of pain arrive in the brain through two different pathways. A fast pathway passes through the thalamus where pain and temperature signals are triaged to sensory and motor sections of the cerebral cortex for additional processing. The slow pathway passes through the central nervous system to areas of the brain such as the prefrontal cortex, the amygdala, and the hypothalamus. This pathway is linked with the emotional reactions that occur in response to a painful stimuli, such as the pain of rejection. 

Remember to listen to my weekly audio podcast   https://anchor.fm/arlene-r-taylor