Why rejection hurts: a common neural alarm system for physical and social pain

@article{Eisenberger2004WhyRH,
  title={Why rejection hurts: a common neural alarm system for physical and social pain},
  author={Naomi I. Eisenberger and Matthew D. Lieberman},
  journal={Trends in Cognitive Sciences},
  year={2004},
  volume={8},
  pages={294-300}
}
Numerous languages characterize 'social pain', the feelings resulting from social estrangement, with words typically reserved for describing physical pain ('broken heart', 'broken bones') and perhaps for good reason. It has been suggested that, in mammalian species, the social-attachment system borrowed the computations of the pain system to prevent the potentially harmful consequences of social separation. Mounting evidence from the animal lesion and human neuroimaging literatures suggests… Expand
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